Simply Touching
by Dayaine
Summary: One sleepy Haru plus one devilish Rin minus anyone watching equals a Simply Touching story! Haru X Rin - Where Rin learns about keeping his hands to himself, and Haru learns that there's more to life than water. Maybe...
1. Chapter 1

**Note from the author: I do not own in any way, shape or form, the anime, manga or any of the characters from Free!**

* * *

Lightly tanned muscles kissed by the sun ripple beneath the warm trail of fingertips on cooling skin. The sleep of the innocent. Quiet. Peaceful. Trusting. Undisturbed by the outside world. Content in the knowledge of a safety that doesn't really exist. So trusting.

Rin's fingers brush another trail across the skin of Haruka's stomach. As the raven haired boy's muscles ripple and bunch beneath his fingers, he finds himself unable to deny the devilish desire to see how far he can go before Haru crosses from his dreams into the more startling presence of reality.

Swim practice had ended hours ago, and all the other members of the club had gone home. They were alone. Just the two of them. And it was all because Haruka had, conveniently for Rin, fallen asleep to the familiar smell of chlorine and the gentle swoosh of the wind as it caressed the leaves of the nearby trees.

One more brush of fingertips on warm, chlorine scented skin. Then another. Rin watched entranced. There was very little in life that was more beautiful than Haruka's body. His fingertips ghosted over one smooth, round nipple, and he jumped lightly at the purely unexpected sound of Haru's light groan.

Again. Just to see if it was a fluke. A grin of delight when Haruka shifted against the slight caress and whimpered in response.

Purely for curiosity's sake, Rin moved over Haruka, straddling, but not touching. He leaned over, just above his goal, and breathed lightly over the blue eyed boy's flesh. Muscles shifted in response. A slight shiver stole over the boy beneath him at the change in temperature, and Rin was forced to shift slightly when Haruka abruptly rolled to his side to curl in on himself as a ward against the light chill of the afternoon coupled with the new shade suddenly cast at the presence he didn't know was above him.

Rin chuckled lightly at the sight Haruka made curled up in only his swimsuit. He looked innocent, like a sleeping child. Naïve. He trusted too much. He shouldn't. He trusted Rin. He probably shouldn't do that either.

Unable to help himself against the smooth expanse of skin exposed to the afternoon breeze, Rin's fingers trailed lightly across Haruka's back up and down the ridges of the boy's spine and then across the muscled skin to either side in smooth, soothing motions only to come to an abrupt stop against the black fabric of the swimsuit marring perfection.

So innocent. Too trusting. Way too naïve. He'd need to fix that, but not yet. Rin's fingers moved from where they'd remained trailing back and forth along the cloth barrier. Slowly Rin lowered himself until he too was laying on his side only inches between him and the object of his affection, admiration, and aggravation. They lay there for a while, the wind gently brushing the black and red locks into and then out of their faces, one oblivious and one not, until finally, Rin sighed and started to rise.

Lashes fluttered over brilliant blue orbs. Rin froze. One heartbeat. Two. Haruka blinked azure eyes sleepily at the afternoon world_. Red hair? Rin? No. Rin only came in his dreams. Only there were they friends. Rin wouldn't be here, not unless he was dreaming. So that was it then. This was a dream. It would be sad to end a dream like this where Rin looked at him like that._ Haru's lashes fluttered sleepily once more before drifting closed and stilling even as his breathing evened out once again.

Rin stayed as he was, frozen against the eerily dreamy quality of Haru's innocent, light smile before he'd drifted off to sleep again. Finally, when his heart had ceased pounding enough he no longer feared its frantic tempo wakening Haru, Rin rose quietly and backed away from the sleeping raven haired teen. It was a long time after he'd left Haru before his heart beat a normal tempo and his mind finally allowed him to drop the look of Haru innocently looking up at him from beneath his sleepy lashes, and even longer still before his fingers stopped itching to trail against tanned skin.

He'd go back tomorrow. He had to make sure Haru stayed safe after all. It wouldn't do for someone _unsavory_ to find the boy so innocently asleep like that. After all if someone found him that way, they could do anything they wanted, and the azure eyed boy might never even know. Rin was still smiling when he drifted off to sleep that night.

* * *

**Kind of excited simply because this is the first story I've attempted to write in a really long time. Like since I was 10... XD Hope you enjoyed it!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Note from the author: I do not own in any way, shape or form, the anime, manga or any of the characters from Free!**

* * *

Swim practice was over. Again. Everyone was gone. Again. He was bored. Again. And Makoto had said he couldn't stay in the pool by himself. Again.

Haru sighed deeply, staring at the smooth blue water before him. Makoto worried too much. Unfortunately, even as he inched towards the still waters of the pool, guilt burned heavily in his stomach. Makoto would worry. Even if he shouldn't.

With the edge of the pool beneath his feet, Haru finally gave up and flopped down irritably. Nap time. He could take a nap. By the pool. At least then he could sleep with the scent of chlorine burning through his lungs. It was…soothing.

Following thought to action, Haru rolled slightly away from the edge before coming to a stop an arm's length away from the waters he loved before settling to his nap, one arm draped haphazardly over his eyes to block the ever glaring afternoon sun and the other beneath his head for comfort.

He drifted off to sleep under the ever important thoughts of how to spend the rest of his day. _Nap. Then walk home. Bathtub. Then dinner. Then bathtub. Again. Then sleep. To dream of swimming of course. Wake up. Bathtub. Breakfast but only when Makoto comes and pulls him out of the bathtub. Then school. To daydream about swimming. Then Swim Club. To Swim! Then nap time. Again. To dream about swimming. Again. _And with that last thought, Haruka's day was set.

* * *

When Haruka stilled for the last time, and his chest rose and fell in the deep, easy movement of one is truly under, Rin was, _finally_, able to approach.

This kid. He trusted people way too much. Some people would take advantage of that trust. Like him.

Rin sat quietly next to Haruka. Just sat. For a while. It was entertaining in its own way to watch Haru's black hair ripple with the afternoon breeze or the way his way too tempting muscles occasionally rippled and bunched as if Haru was dreaming so deeply about swimming again that even his resting body could not help but leap in response.

One touch. Lightly. A caress along the broad expanse of Haru's chest grazing the nipple that had so nicely elicited those vocal responses the day before. Rin was not disappointed today either as Haru's breath was harsher even if for just a moment.

It was a shame he'd covered up his face. He was beautiful. Even worse that Rin could never really see those beautiful, naïve azure eyes as he touched. That really was a shame.

Fingertips grazed Haru's jaw then stilled as Haru mumbled. Moved again when the boy only sighed lightly. The kid was really out of it at the moment. Such a shame. _Not._

With that little devil on his shoulder that was occasionally responsible for taunting him into doing things he probably shouldn't, Rin leaned over Haru, careful not to let his shoes make a sound against the smooth, cool tile beneath him.

* * *

He was at the ocean. He dreamed of the ocean a lot. Just moments ago, he'd been swimming. But now? No, not anymore, and irritably, Haru didn't know why. He felt the smooth glide of the ocean spray as it drifted down his body.

"You shouldn't swim alone, Haru," Makoto told him worriedly.

Ah, there it was. The reason he was suddenly not swimming. Even in his dreams, apparently, his friend worried.

Another drop of ocean spray trailed down his sun warmed body. Warm, then fading into coolness under the light breeze.

"I'm not alone. You're here."

"I can't stay," Makoto replied sadly just before he turned and jogged off down the beach.

"Makoto," Haru sighed staring balefully after his friend.

Sighing again, Haru got up and was about to head into the ocean anyway, it was a dream after all, when a sharp pain rippled along one of the muscles of his abdomen.

One moment the ocean was before him and the next everything was black. Haru shifted slightly moving one hand to graze along the point of pain. The sun was a little blinding sitting as it was directly in his line of sight.

Wet. Water. Pain. Haruka looked at his stomach where light lines of water were trailing across his abdomen in exactly the same paths as the ocean spray from his dreams, and a sharp, red mark lay brightly against his tanned skin.

_Must have been a bug._

* * *

A few feet away, Rin was cursing himself for that little devil that had gotten him into this. Everything had been going just fine. Until Makoto. It was Haru's fault. If he hadn't been dreaming of Makoto. If he hadn't called Makoto's name, Rin wouldn't have gotten mad. If he hadn't gotten mad, he wouldn't have nipped Haru. If he hadn't nipped Haru, the black haired boy would still be sleeping, and _he'd _still be playing.

Makoto's fault then. And Haru's. Mainly Haru's. But…no, definitely Makoto's. Fault that is. Not Haru. Because Haru was _his._

* * *

**Note from the author: **Thanks for the reviews WannabeMarySue and LegacyofBlood. I hadn't originally intended to make this anything more than a one off, but I realized I hadn't actually ever said that. Right after I read your reviews, however, I decided I'd keep going! Hope you guys (and anyone else that reads it) enjoy! Also, I will try to update as religiously as possible for you guys as long as it entertains you. ^.^


	3. Chapter 3

**Note from the author: I do not own in any way, shape or form, the anime, manga or any of the characters from Free!**

* * *

_Water. Water. Water!_ It seemed like eternity since he'd last felt the cool glide of the water as it embraced his skin. He'd gone home after his nap yesterday late in the afternoon expecting to take a nice, water filled bath. Because after all, what else could a bath possibly be filled with? Air.

Haru had excitedly turned the bathwater on and waited for the crash of the water as it filled the tub just for him. And waited. And waited some more. Nothing. No crashing water. Not even a drop. The world was over. There was no water. Why was there no water? There _should_ be water. Because this was Haru's house. And he wanted water. Ergo, there should be water. In the bathtub. Coming out of the faucet. Because there should be! But there wasn't, and what did this mean for Haru?

No late afternoon bath. No bath before breakfast. No water at all until swim practice. Tomorrow, which thankfully had finally transformed into today.

_Five more minutes. Four. Three. Two. One._

Haru was out the door before anyone else had even had time to stand up.

_Pool. Pool. Pool. Water._

One moment Haru was walking towards the pool fully clothed, then in a quick flurry of clothing, he was diving into the blessed sanctuary of the pool. The world was ok again.

"Haru, when are the repair people going to have your problem fixed?" Makoto asked bending down to gather Haru's clothes that now lay strung out over the tiled flooring around the pool.

"Tomorrow," Haru mumbled back in response as he floated through his azure blue world.

"Poor Haru," Nagisa commiserated with his black haired friend. An entire day without water. Again. They'd be lucky if they got Haru out of the pool today.

* * *

Swim practice was over. The world was ending. He could nap and dream about water, but there'd be no water waiting for him at home. Life was over.

Everyone had left him to his nap by the pool. An activity which had apparently become so usual as to no longer draw even worried looks from Makoto about whether or not Haru could be trusted not to swim without anyone else around.

He could. Usually. But…not today.

_Water. Pool. Water!_

He _had _said he was going to take a nap, but now that he'd already disobeyed Makoto's request that he not swim without others around, he didn't really feel like getting out. Until, well, until he had to. Like when it was dark for instance.

Haru sighed and relaxed. _Water._

* * *

When Rin turned up half an hour later, he was disappointed to see Haru wasn't napping by the pool. As he turned away, he spotted a flash of black hair resting gently against the pool's edge. Haru was still here after all. Asleep. In the water. The kid was going to be lucky if he didn't drown himself. But then this was Haru. He probably couldn't drown.

But then again, what kind of _friend_ would he be if he didn't make _sure_ Haru was going to be ok. He was sure that such a task would require watching the other boy closely. Much closer than this. Haru was special after all, so it made sense that he'd need to take _extra _special care of him, so he'd need to be close, really close, for his observations.

Rin quietly shed his clothes and tucked them around the corner in case he needed to disappear quickly should Haru start to wake up. Walking lightly across the tiled floor, he came to a stop at the pool's edge a few feet from where Haru lay with his head resting on the arms anchoring him to the side of the pool.

He eased into the water gently making as little motion as possible. Then gently, quietly, he made his way to Haru's side.

And stared. And stared some more. Haru was beautiful. He always was, so why was it that every time he saw the azure eyed boy, his heart beat faster and he was stunned anew by this revelation he'd already had so many times before?

Gently, so gently, Rin lifted his hands from the water and stepped closer, an inch, maybe two, all that parted his body from Haru's.

He was in trouble. Because today, in the water, _with _ Haru, Rin wasn't sure if he'd be able to settle for just a touch. Or two.

His left hand reached out and left a trail of water dripping behind it as it traced the corded muscles of Haru's shoulder at the same time as his right hand settled on Haru's hip where his fingers began to dance with the edge of the black material that interfered in his play.

* * *

"Haru, you shouldn't be in the water alone," Makoto said sternly, looking at the black haired boy sternly, an expression broken by the lines of worry crossing his forehead.

"I'll be ok. It's just for a little while."

"Haru," Makoto sighed.

With Makoto looking at him like that, it was hard to deny his friend, but the water felt so nice. It held him close like the best of friends and caressed his body sweetly, easing the corded muscles that had bunched in his back and shoulders from the stress of a day without water.

"No, Makoto," Haru responded finally. This was just a dream. If you didn't count he was sleeping in the pool anyhow. Deciding that didn't matter as he only had to deal with dream Makoto before he could go back to the peacefulness of the blue water gently surrounding him in its _warmth? _It was a dream, so maybe the water was warm. Like bathwater. Yeah, that was it. Because warmth was soothing, and Haru needed soothing. The world made sense again.

"I don't want to," he responded again. Perhaps getting rid of Makoto wasn't the solution after all. The water surrounding him stilled, cooled. Left.

* * *

Rin slid from the water and grabbed his clothes. Only when he was a good distance away did he give into the urge to punch something. A wall. Conveniently placed for his pleasure. Or displeasure as it were. Now his hand hurt. _This_ was Haru's fault. And Makoto's. Makoto. He was going to kill that guy. No one. No one should be touching Haru like that. Except him. But definitely, definitely, not _Makoto!_

* * *

**Author's Note:** Hehe, I kinda like this story now that I'm on a role. I'm finding it really easy to write because people are saying such nice things to me, and Haru's so cute. Probably also because Rin is kinda fun to play with. Thanks to my new reviewers! You guys inspired me to write another chapter today with all your nice compliments. ^.^ See you next time!


	4. Chapter 4

**Note from the author: I do not own in any way, shape or form, the anime, manga or any of the characters from Free!**

* * *

_Water. Pool. Water._

Almost there. It was almost over. A few more minutes. Haru groaned. This could _never_ happen again. It would kill him. Two days without water. Not counting Swim Club or his nap. He could exclude those. One was obvious, and the other, well, Makoto, who was now looking worriedly in his direction, didn't know about that one, so it could be excluded.

Makoto sighed. Haru was out the door before he'd even managed to get to his feet. When he walked towards the pool, he immediately detoured to pick up Haru's clothes so they didn't get wet. After carefully folding everything and setting them aside for the raven haired boy when he was finished, Makoto wandered back out to the pool to join the rest of his team.

* * *

Nap time. He wouldn't have to make Makoto worry today. He could sleep by the pool today. The repair people had called during practice. Everything was fixed. When he turned on the faucet tonight, there would be water. Not air. Never again. Because it was Haru's house, and Haru's house had _water._ Because he said so. And it was his house.

* * *

Rin waited just out of sight until he was sure Haru had fallen asleep. This kid. What was he going to do with him? Then he winced. That had been a really bad question to ask himself as his mind very thoroughly displayed image after image of possibilities. He really shouldn't be here. He shouldn't be doing this. Haru would kill him if he found out. Probably. On the other hand, this was Haruka he was talking about. The other teen might be naïve enough to believe him if he gave some excuse about challenging him to a match or something.

Following that thought, Rin was mad. At this kid. Because. Because… it was his _fault_! Ignoring the fact that Haru had no idea what he was doing, feeling, or thinking because then it became a little less Haru's fault and more his. _Makoto._ It could just be Makoto's fault. Because…Because that annoying mother hen had been touching _his_ Haru. Like that. In places he should not be touching. Just like him…

* * *

The water was warm again. It had been cold just a moment ago. Haru sighed blissfully as the water slid gently on his skin brushing across his bare stomach and along his jaw. It had felt so good yesterday along the corded muscles of his back. But…not today? _Water?_ Why wouldn't the water sooth him like it was supposed to? He wanted to feel it everywhere. On his chest. His back. His face. Everywhere. _Water?_

Maybe it couldn't reach him? That didn't make sense. It was water. It should be everywhere, but maybe…? Haru rolled to his side. _Water._ He sighed in relief as the water gently slid along the contours of his body from the smooth ridged planes of his stomach to the tightly bunched muscles of his shoulders where it seemed to linger, rubbing soothing circles, until his muscles melted beneath its touch.

_Gone?_ It went away? The water left? Why? Haru shifted in his sleep, rolling back over to let the sun kiss the tanned skin of his chest again. The water had touched him when he was like this before. Why not now?

Water slid down his side. _Finally._ Tracing the muscles along his stomach before leaving off at the roughened edge of his swimsuit. It felt good. _More._

* * *

Rin started in surprise when Haru shifted under him bringing his body up as if to meet an invisible lover. Or not so invisible as it were. When Rin simply stared for a moment, Haru shifted again and whimpered. Or whined. Like someone had taken away his favored toy. Or his access to the swimming pool.

Gently, Rin soothed the teen napping beneath him with the tips of his fingertips even as his head lowered to the muscles of Haru's toned stomach. Tracing. Swirling. His tongue left a smooth, glistening wetness behind on Haru's body. Marks, if only temporary, of his possession. Of Haru allowing, begging, even if unknowingly, for his touch.

_Marks._ He wanted to leave one. Just one. Well, not just one, but he'd stop himself after one. This time. It would have to be someplace out of sight. Or everyone would see. Which wouldn't bother him except, well, they'd ask Haru about it. And the boy wouldn't know what to tell them. Which would make the others, Makoto in particular, hover. And he could _not_ have that. Ever. Because Haru's naps were _his_.

* * *

Haru leaned into the waves as they lapped along his body. His mind following with anticipation the trail of the ocean spray as it slid from his collarbone down, down, down to the edge of his suit again. _Oh? _It went below. Just a bit. _Warm._ It was warm. Soothing. Water seemed to pool just beneath the edge of where his suit _should_ have been. Maybe he was skinny dipping in his dreams now? Not like that hadn't happened before.

Water swirled. Haru sighed and relaxed under the smooth glide of the water as it moved across his sides, chest, stomach, and in that one spot just beneath his swimsuit. _So nice._ Soothing. A happy feeling. He frowned. Muscles rippling across his abdomen. The water was pulling him. His skin. But…only in that one spot. It was weird. Not unpleasant, but why? It stopped. Pulling at least. It still trailed over his skin. More wet in some places than others.

_Huh?_ Water had degrees of wetness? Shrugging off his own thoughts, he relaxed back into the cool wet and dry caresses. Drifting deeper into his nap.

* * *

Rin sighed as he finally pulled away. He was lucky Haruka hadn't woken up just then. He'd been close. The boy's lashes had fluttered rapidly and had only just kept those azure eyes hidden from the world of the awakened.

Leaning back , Rin surveyed his handiwork. One mark. Just beneath the edge of Haru's swimsuit but a little off to the side so the raven haired team wasn't likely to notice it.

Gently, he eased the other boy's swimsuit back up to cover the darkening mark. Haru was his. Secretly, but still his just the same. But definitely not _Makoto's._

* * *

**_Author's Note:_**_ *Huggles reviewers* You guys make me so happy to write this story that I just can't seem to stop. I have plans for this one then I have already started planning a sequel. XD _

_P.S. Dark kisshu, I can neither confirm nor deny that Haru will be awake at any point, but well, that would make it a good story, wouldn't it? And I do like a good story. :P_

_Kumo, patience, love. XD We'll get there. ^.^_


	5. Chapter 5

**Note from the author: I do not own in any way, shape or form, the anime, manga or any of the characters from Free!**

* * *

Haru stared glumly at the sky outside his classroom. It was raining. Water. Of course. But…there was lightning too, and while he didn't particularly care, Makoto would. And so would their Sensei. Maybe.

_No water._ The world was a little sadder today. He'd go home straight after school. To his bathtub. Because they were…friends. Of a sort.

But it wasn't the same. It was ok, but it wasn't _freestyle_. Freedom. It wasn't the glide of water on skin or the smoothness of the waves as they caressed his muscles. It was not the same.

Haru sighed. When class was over, he shuffled along, sedately towards the door.

"It should be sunny again tomorrow, Haru." Makoto told his friend kindly.

Haru sighed again. Tomorrow was a long ways away. He wanted that feeling. He wanted it now.

_Nap._ _Water. Nap._

His dreams had water. Nice, warm, soothing water. Water that trailed and slid along his skin. Water that caressed and soothed. A nap sounded nice. Then the bathtub.

Plan decided, Haru's day was suddenly a little brighter. Nodding once to Makoto, he grabbed the strap of his bag more tightly before heading outside. Without an umbrella of course.

"Haru!" Makoto yelled after him once, but by the time he was out the door, his azure eyed friend had already disappeared.

* * *

Rin sighed. It had been a long shot. Even if Haru had wanted, his school probably wouldn't have let him stay out here. No Haru today then. Tomorrow perhaps. If the rain cleared up. As he glanced at the ever darkening sky that lit with the jagged slashes of lightning and vibrated with the occasional rumble of thunder, he couldn't help but wonder if maybe it wasn't better this way.

It was nice to have Haru to himself, but it hurt that the other teen didn't know. It hurt that he didn't know if Haru would welcome his touch if he were actually awake. And it _hurt_ that Makoto was allowed to touch what he wanted for himself.

Rin wanted to be angry. With Haru. With Makoto. But at the moment, he could only work up the energy to be mad at himself. _Haru._ With one last glance to the rain slicked tile at the edge of the pool where Haru usually lay, Rin turned and headed home.

* * *

Haru rolled over again. His nap wasn't going well. He dreamed. Of the ocean, but even as he dived into its azure depths, he was disappointed. It wasn't soothing him. Not today. There was no relaxing caress of water as it slid across skin. There was no pull as the water made its demands on his body. There was _nothing._

Haru finally gave up and opened his eyes. A light frown tugged at the features of his face. This wasn't _fair._

_Water._

A short time later, Haru blissfully slid into the water of his tub, ducking down until the edges of his raven hair danced upon the water's surface and only his eyes remained peeking out from below the blue depths.

Haru frowned. His dreams tormented him now. It wasn't _right._ They were his dreams. They should have given him what he needed most. Especially since he hadn't been able to get that feeling during swim practice today. He glared at the surface that rippled before him.

It was _annoying._ Would it be different tonight when he went to sleep for good? Would it be nice to him again? If it wasn't, he was going to be annoyed.

It was time for bed. Time to answer the question. His dreams at night were always missing something. It was only his naps that gave him those feelings. Probably because he took them so close to the pool where he could smell the chlorine and hear the water as the wind rushed across its surface. It better be sunny tomorrow.

_Or else._ Haru thought darkly before blowing harsh, aggravated bubbles into the water of his bath. Dunking himself fully, Haru stayed beneath the surface for a short time staring at the porcelain siding of his tub before pushing his body out of the water completely.

Water slid and glistened across his skin as he flopped unceremoniously on his bed before curling into a ball with his head resting softly on his pillow, his fingers clutching the plush surface, and his azure blue eyes begging mournfully for a dream that wouldn't come.

_Come to me?_

* * *

**Author's Note: **One more chapter for the day, although, I will prolly end up updating soon anyway. XD I do have a question for those that care to review. The story can go one of two ways, and I'm a little torn. It's rated T at the moment, but if I take it one way I'll have to up the rating to M. Would anyone mind that too much? It'll still be a (mostly) innocent story, but I'd need to up the rating just to be on the safe side. Let me know what you think!

As always, thanks for the reviews!

P.s. Dark kisshu, not sure why, but it seems like I always end up writing another chapter right after reading your reviews. ^.^


	6. Chapter 6

**Note from the author: I do not own in any way, shape or form, the anime, manga or any of the characters from Free!**

* * *

It didn't come. That feeling. The one he'd begged for each night for the past week. It was gone. _Stupid rain._

It'd been raining for almost a week despite Makoto's prediction of sunshine. No pool. No ocean. No water. Except the bathtub. It was the only reason he was still sane and then only just barely.

"Haru? What are you going to do today after school?" Nagisa asked swinging around the older boy excitedly.

"Bath."

"Besides that?"

"Nothing."

"Yay!" With that last exclamation, Nagisa ran off to jump on Rei telling him enthusiastically that the swim club was going on a shopping expedition and since Haru was coming he had to come too.

Haru blinked after his friend. Rewinding the conversation in his head and then hitting replay, he finally gave up and turned to Makoto.

"What just happened?"

"I think you've just been voluntold to come shopping with us. Nagi had asked me to go with him to the market, but I didn't know he'd planned to drag you guys along too." Makoto revealed with a worried frown on his face. "Sorry, Haru."

"I don't mind." And he didn't. But only because life wasn't fair. He could skip his nap because it wasn't being nice to him anyway.

* * *

"What about this?" Nagisa asked holding up yet another type of chocolate.

"Nagi, I don't think this is what your mom meant when she asked you to pick up something for yourself for dinner."

"What! Why not?" Nagisa whined piteously.

"You'll get fat," Rei supplied.

"You think I'm fat?"

"That's not what I…" Rei started only to be interrupted as Nagisa jumped on Haru.

Haru, zoned out as he was and trying to decide if climbing into the lobster tank would be worth it, failed to notice the blonde teen flying in his direction until they were both falling over backwards.

"Ow." Nagisa murmured from his position under Haru. "Haru, get off."

Haru would gladly have complied immediately except he was still trying to compute what was going on. On minute water. Lobster tank. _Pretty_. Now bumpy surface. That was moving. Possibly because he was sitting on it. And he hurt. His butt hurt. And his leg. And his back. Possibly because of an elbow. A human elbow. _Nagisa's elbow?_

Realizing suddenly that he was squishing the blonde teen who'd mysteriously ended up beneath him, Haru quickly jumped up only to send himself careening towards the shelves to his right. Bracing for the pain, Haru was quite glad to find himself firmly in Makoto's grasp where he was promptly being checked over for permanent injury.

When no blood was found on either teen, Makoto stepped back and allowed the continuation of their expedition interspersed with a lecture on safety aimed at Nagisa, one on paying attention to one's surroundings, which was aimed at the raven haired teen that had pretty much already tuned him out, and the occasionally bouts of apology from Nagisa as he pathetically moped around Haru.

Haru looked down at a tug on his shirt. Seeing Nagisa childishly hanging on his shirt tails while trying to apologize, he finally decided enough was enough. It was bath time. But he had to take care of his friends first.

"We'll compromise. Mackerel."

Haru headed to pick up some more fish leaving three confused teenage boys standing in the isle.

* * *

"You didn't have to cook for us," Makoto said a short time later.

"But it was really, really yummy, Haru!" Nagisa interjected.

"Are you sure you don't need any help?" Rei asked peeking into the kitchen where Haru was elbow deep in bubbles and Makoto was drying the dishes before putting them away.

"We're good."

"In that case, Haru, Makoto, Nagisa, I'm going to head home," Rei responded nodding at each of them before grabbing his things and heading for the door.

"Wait! I want to come too!" Nagisa whined before darting towards his own things, yelling a quick goodbye to his older friends, before sprinting after Rei who had tried to disappear before the energetic blonde could catch up to him. No such luck for him, however, as he sighed lightly when the shorter boy appear at his side as he jogged towards home, both of them ignoring the slight drizzle and the occasional rumble of thunder in the sky.

"I'll head out as soon as the dishes are done," Makoto replied turning away from the scene of the blonde's hasty departure and smiling slightly.

"Ok."

* * *

He shouldn't be here. This was a bad idea. He had no excuse to give if he was spotted. It's not like he could get Haru to believe he came to challenge him to a match when the only body of water around was the azure eyed teen's bath tub.

"Bye, Haru. I'll see you tomorrow!"

Rin started. _Makoto._

Rin watched the brown haired teen leave Haru's house. School had ended hours ago. There was no swim practice. Makoto was in Haru's house. With Haru. Alone. For hours…

* * *

Haru folded his apron neatly and placed it on the counter before going to click the lock on the outside door. As the lock clicked into place, a splash of red caught his eye through one of the windows. _Red_? Moving closer, Haru peered out, but nothing was there. At least nothing red.

_Rin._ Red always reminded him of Rin. Sighing sadly, Haru stripped down as he headed towards his room until he was dressed in only his swimsuit. Walking into the bathroom, he turned on the faucet and settled on the side of the tub to listen to the sound of the waves as they crashed into the bottom of the porcelain container.

Shifting slightly, Haru winced. Confused, the teen stood up and looked at his side. Nothing. Gripping the edge of his suit lightly, Haru peeled the black and purple material away from his skin, and winced again, this time in surprise when he uncovered a rather nasty looking bruise. Stripping his swimsuit off the rest of the way and turning off the faucets, Haru gingerly climbed into the bath.

Apparently he hadn't escaped the fall at the grocery store completely unscathed after all.

When Haru got out of the bath a while later, he wasn't extremely surprised to note that the bruise just below his hip was even darker than it had been earlier. Somehow, he had a feeling it was really going to hurt tomorrow.

Sighing loudly, Haru climbed into bed, as he had every night for the past week, listening to the raindrops as they trailed down the roof of his house and wishing instead that they were drops from the ocean's spray drifting and swirling across his own body.

Come to me. _Please?_

* * *

**Author's Note:** Thanks to all my reviewers. I decided to give everyone one more chapter to object to a rating change, if they're going to, especially since it's only been about 12 hours since I mentioned it. XD Anyhow, I'll probably update again by tonight, and if the majority still doesn't mind, the rating will change when I add the next chapter.


	7. Chapter 7

**Note from the author: I do not own in any way, shape or form, the anime, manga or any of the characters from Free!**

Also, please note the rating has now changed. It's still pretty innocent, but I wanted to be safe.

* * *

It was still raining.

"Haru?"

He hurt.

"Haru?"

It wasn't _fair._

"Haru!"

Haru blinked, startled. "Hmm?"

"Gou was just telling us that she was able to arrange for another joint practice," Makoto told him kindly.

_Swim?_

"Today?"

When Makoto nodded, Haru's world righted itself.

* * *

Rei was watching Haru as he swam. There was something off about the older boy. He wasn't moving as freely as usual, and he was much slower. There was a stiffness in the way his legs powered him through the water, and when the raven haired teen pulled himself out of the water, he wasn't able to keep the pain from showing on his face.

"Haru?" Rei asked moving to help the teen up. "Are you ok?"

"Fine."

"Where does it hurt?" Makoto asked rushing to his side.

"It's nothing. I'm just a little bruised from the fall yesterday."

"That's not all. Is it, Haru?" Makoto asked kindly. "You haven't been sleeping well have you?"

After having it pointed out, Rei could see where Makoto might have gotten that idea. Haruka's eyes were rather duller than usual, and he didn't seem to be able to focus. On anything. Not even on swimming. And if those weren't reasons enough, the darkening blue-purple circles shadowing Haru's face just beneath his eyes gave proof to his difficulties.

"Not really," Haru mumbled tiredly.

"Come on. I think it may be best if you sit out for the rest of practice," Makoto replied helping the shorter teen to his feet.

* * *

"Um, Haru, can I ask you a question?" Nagisa asked the azure eyed boy cautiously.

"Yeah."

"Um, why do you have… I mean who gave you… Where did you get…"

"Nagisa, just spit it out," Rei interjected.

Nagisa looked between his three teammates, drew a deep breath, held it for a minute, then did exactly as Rei has asked. He spit it out, in one extremely rushed, almost impossible to understand exclamation that was somewhere between a question, a statement, and an accusation.

"Why do you have a hickey under you swimsuit?"

Three pairs of eyes blinked. Then three pairs of eyes followed the direction Nagisa's finger was pointing at accusingly.

Two pairs of eyes widened in dawning horror.

One pair of eyes brightened with understanding.

"It's not a hickey," Haru muttered annoyed.

"It's not?" Nagisa asked skeptically. "It looks like a hickey."

"It's not. See." Haru proved his point by edging the side of his suit down slightly to reveal the rest of the bruising Nagisa had so kindly given him the day before.

"Oh. Wait. Did I do that?" Nagisa asked horrified, all memory of the previous conversation wiped away.

* * *

Haru left the other three teens in the changing room to try and take a quick nap by the pool. He knew he wouldn't be allowed to stay, but any sleep, no matter how short, would be better than none. And this was a pool, with chlorine, and water. It should give him what he needed. It should make him _feel._ He'd just turned the corner when Nagisa's voice floated to him one last time.

"But, you know, Makoto, if you can't see the whole bruise, it kind of does look like a hickey."

"Your elbow," Rei supplied.

"Huh?" Two pairs of eyes turned to him in confusion.

"I'd estimate that you made that particular mark with you elbow. It's the right size and shape."

"Oh. Ahhh! It really is my fault." Nagisa whined piteously, and the two, simultaneous responses from his teammates didn't really make him feel better.

"I'm sure Haru will forgive you," Makoto replied kindly.

"You're just now figuring that out?" Rei all but snapped.

* * *

Haru was napping on his back a few feet from the edge of the pool. Voices sounded around him, but his eyes were too heavy to bother seeing whose they were.

"Can't you just let him sleep? He won't swim when he wakes up. He usually goes straight home."

"I can't. He doesn't even go to school here."

"Please? He's been having a really rough time sleeping ever since it started raining," Makoto practically begged the Samezuka captain.

"Alright. Just this once."

Haru sighed lightly. He could stay. And sleep. And dream.

* * *

An hour later, Haru was still drifting too close to the surface of his thoughts. He couldn't relax. He could still hear the voices that echoed and drifted from the corridors and walkways surrounding the building where he lay. He could still hear the pounding of the raindrops on the roof, the rumble of thunder across the stormy sky, and he could still see the bright flashes of lightning even with his eyes closed.

Footsteps echoed. He should open his eyes to see who it was, what they wanted, but he didn't. That would mean giving up. He didn't want to give up. He wanted to feel. The water. The warmth. The slide of liquid heaven against his body.

The footsteps stopped. The echoed remnants of them receded. The right choice then. Not opening his eyes. Whoever it was had gone, and now he still had a chance. _Come?_

* * *

This kid. Mikoshiba had asked him to come check on the boy and see if he'd gone home yet. He hadn't. Rin had hoped he wouldn't have, yet dreaded finding him here. He'd decided to stay away from Haru. He knew this wasn't right. Stealing these simple touches. Haru didn't deserve this.

And it _killed_ him. He wanted Haru to know. He wanted the boy to remember. Him. Not Makoto. It hurt when Haru called Makoto's name, but it was worse knowing what Makoto and Haru had been up to the day before. Haru was limping slightly. Although, it hadn't seemed to have affected his swimming much.

Still. Even as his mind supplied him with reasons to move away, his body moved him closer. He stopped just next to the sleeping teen.

* * *

_Come. Please. I'll beg._

Nothing. Only nothing. No feeling. No warmth. No soothing caress of the waves running in ripples over his abdomen. Just. Nothing.

_Anything. I'll… Anything. ._

Nothing.

_I need you._

Haru shuddered at the unexpected glide against his arm. His attention was focused. Completely.

_Again?_

Another drop slid from his collar across one nipple until it dipped down into his navel. Haru sighed blissfully and finally surrendered to his dreams.

* * *

_This kid_. Rin had started almost violently when Haru had asked for more. This was why he shouldn't have done this. This was why he needed Haru awake. Because when Haru begged him for more, he wanted Haru to know who he was begging and what he was begging for.

* * *

Water slid in rivulets down his chest always stopping at the rim of his swimsuit. Again. Then another.

_Oh. _

That was nice. He was skinny dipping. He had to be. And because he had to be, his dream self made it so. Now he could explain the water that traced a path from his navel downward. A path that didn't stop at the edge of a swimsuit.

Haru groaned. He was getting _hot._ The cool, wet caresses were running across his chest and up to his neck, but there were more soothing, enticing droplets that were escaping to run in paths down his body. Down. Down. Some lingering a touch too long to be soothing anymore.

When the water caught the side of his hip before sliding gently forward over the front of his _suit? _He was skinny dipping a moment ago… You can change clothes in a dream. It's allowed. _Right._

His next thought suddenly allowable again, Haruka leaned into the ocean's gentle glide as it slid across the front of his swimsuit again, lingering in places it shouldn't. It was warm. He was warm.

* * *

When Haru groaned again, Rin forced himself to lighten his caresses. He wanted to sooth the raven haired teen, not get him excited when he'd only have to leave him before he woke up. He was enjoying himself though. Haru seemed to be deeply asleep, and Rin had free access to Haru's body. His hands slid down, burning a trail across Haru's stomach, even as his tongue swirled and soothed elsewhere.

His fingers lazily traced the edging of Haru's swimsuit, stopping abruptly when Haru suddenly winced as if in pain. Eyes trailing across skin finally landed on the bruise that marred perfection just under his fingers. _Makoto._

Suddenly, he couldn't justify it any more. This. It was..._Wrong._

Haru had chosen Makoto. The mark below his hand was simply visual proof of that. It was accepted. It was a mark that everyone could see. The raven haired teen wasn't even trying to hide it. It simply was.

This was… Whatever this was… Whatever it had been… It was…

_Over._

* * *

**Author's Note:** Poor Rin… Poor Makoto… And poor, oblivious Haru.

Also, I wrote a Nagisa X Rei oneshot if anyone is interested. It's a little like this one in a cleanly dirty or dirtily clean kind of way. :P See ya soon!

P.S. Edefrem & anondino, I got a warm fuzzy feeling when I got your reviews. Thank you! ^.^ And thanks to everyone else who reviewed. You guys are so nice to me that I just can't help myself. One minute everything is fine, and the next, my fingers itch to fly across my keyboard. (And for the most part I let them. XD )


	8. Chapter 8

**Note from the author: I do not own in any way, shape or form, the anime, manga or any of the characters from Free!**

* * *

Two weeks. He'd only managed two weeks. He was pathetic. And now, here he was, back at step one, watching Haru from a distance. For now.

The younger teen was resting by the pool. His school's. This time. The rain had let up a couple of days after his last run-in with the boy. And he'd been glad. And mad. And resigned. And _pissed._ Now, he was at peace. Sort of. Mostly. Haru was Makoto's. He had to keep reminding himself.

Yet, here he was watching the rise and fall of the raven haired teen's chest as he took his daily nap in the sun. But, on a brighter note, he was still over here, which was maybe only slightly different from being over there. Between the two, though, over here was slightly more acceptable.

Frowning, Rin watched Haru roll over again. It was the fourth time he'd done it since the red headed teen had showed up, and each time, he rolled closer to the pool. If he didn't roll away soon, he was going to fall in.

He did it again. Twice more actually. Rin was frowning heavily now. Another roll and Haru was going to hit the edge. One more roll after that, and he'd fall in. Cursing heavily under his breath, he decided he'd have to make up some reason for being here, maybe to challenge the sleeping boy, so that he could go wake the azure eyed teen before he hurt himself. Or drown himself in his sleep.

Another roll. Rin twitched in annoyance even as his feet started moving on their own. Towards Haru. The one place he'd sworn they wouldn't take him.

"Haru. Wake up," he told the shorter teen nudging him in the shoulder with the toe of his shoe.

Haru mumbled something in response and looked like he was about to take a nose dive into the pool, so, cursing again, Rin grabbed him by the shoulder and jerked him back over.

When Haru only mumbled again in response, Rin got annoyed.

"Haru. Get up," he growled shaking the other teen angrily.

Sleepy, lashes fluttered over azure eyes. Then drooped. Closed.

"Haru?"

No response.

"Haru?" A little louder this time.

No response.

Shaking the boy again, Rin started to worry when Haru's lashes merely flickered open for a moment before closing again.

His fingers were burning.

"Haru!"

Haru's eyes flickered open, only briefly, but long enough for him to see the sleepy, fever bright blue.

"I'll take you home," Rin sighed, resigned to his fate.

* * *

"I'll call Makoto for you," he told the other teen as he pulled the blankets up to cover him.

Haru immediately curled in on himself and snuggled under the covers of his bed until only his nose and those annoying, aggravating, beautiful azure eyes poked out.

He was shivering. Violently.

Sighing again, Rin pulled his cell out to call the annoying brown haired teen that had won the place he had wanted in Haru's heart.

"Rin?"

He jerked, dropping his phone.

"Yeah, Haru?" he asked as he leaned down to pick up his phone.

"Why do you hate me?"

Rin's fingers stilled as they wrapped around the phone lying on the ground. His head jerked up to meet the questioning stare of the other teen. The burning blue eyes peered out from beneath his covers, hiding as if in fear of reprisal, but brave enough to venture the question anyways. He looked like a child all curled up like that. A really, really hot child that Rin wanted to touch very, very badly. Except, he hadn't had these feelings when Haru was a child. He wished he didn't have them now...

"I don't hate you," he finally responded.

"Yes, you do," was the whispered reply.

"No," he growled annoyed. Even while he was sick, he was annoying. And the little brat should not be telling him how he felt. Especially since he was _wrong._ "I don't hate you."

"You sure?"

"Yes, now shut up. I'm calling Makoto, and as soon as he gets here, I'll head out."

Haru mumbled something.

"What?"

"Another mumble was his only response as Haru had turned so that his face was buried into his pillow beneath the blankets.

Sighing, once again resigned to the cruelty of fate, Rin pulled gently on the blankets until he was able to find the other teen's buried face.

"Haru, look at me. I can't hear what you're saying."

When the boy only shook his head, refusing to comply, Rin gently grasped his chin and turned it for him. He was surprised by the dark circles under the boy's eyes that he'd failed to notice before. Kid looked like he hadn't slept in forever.

"Haru?"

Attempting to turn away, Haru fought the gentle pull of Rin's fingers, some sense of pride still left to him even after his three sleepless weeks and through the force of his fever. Finally, giving in when it seemed as if on this one point Rin wouldn't budge, Haru gave up.

It didn't matter anyway. This was a dream. Haru could talk to Rin in his dreams. He never had before, but that had always been because he was afraid to hear what the red eyed teen would say. He wasn't so afraid. Not of this Rin. This time. This was a nice Rin. So he talked.

"You have to hate me."

Sighing again in exasperation even as he sat on the edge of the bed next to the shivering bundle curled up under the blankets, Rin responded, "Why is that exactly?"

"Because."

"That's not really a reason."

"If you didn't hate me, you wouldn't be so far away," Haru replied, his voice implying it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"I'm not far away, Haru. I'm right here. We're close enough that I could reach out and touch you." He brushed the other teen's face. "See."

"No, not here. When I'm awake."

"Huh?"

"I don't mean here. I mean when I'm awake," Haru mumbled more to his blankets again than to anyone else.

"You think you're dreaming?"

"I know I am."

Haru sounded so sure.

"Why?" Rin asked. He was legitimately curious.

"Because you're here."

Rin sighed, heavily this time. "Haru, I see you when you're awake too."

Haru shook his head.

"No, you're always so far away. You hate me."

Growling, Rin decided they needed to get past this conversation. It was doing horrible things to his temper, and the other teen thought he was sleeping anyway.

"Haru, why haven't you been sleeping?"

It took the raven haired teen a while to respond. His fever made it hard to follow the abrupt change in conversation, and his mind swam confusingly inside his head.

"The water won't come to me."

"Huh?"

"It won't come. I asked it too. I begged, but it won't come. I want to be warm again," Haru replied sadly.

Haru curled up even further like someone who was expecting a blow or had just received one. His face disappeared beneath the blankets, and no further words fell from his lips.

Rin sighed. Poor kid didn't make sense. He'd had swim practice every day for most of the last two weeks. He'd been in water, and he had his bathtub. So that wasn't it.

"I'll call Makoto to come watch you," Rin said softly as he stood up.

He was surprised when a hand darted out from beneath the blankets to catch at his wrist in a firm grip before sliding weakly down to his hand and finally catching on the edges of his fingers with barely any strength.

"Stay?" Haru asked one blue eye peeking out from beneath his cloth sanctuary. "Please?"

"Why?"

The room was silent for a moment, so Rin turned and dialed Makoto's number.

"Because I miss you?" It was somewhere between a question and an answer and sounded like the boy wasn't sure if it was something he should have said or not.

Makoto's voice came on the line. Rin hung up.

He sat down on the edge of the bed again before leaning over and gently pulling the cloth bundle into a gentle hug.

"I've missed you too."

"Rin?"

"Yeah, Haru?"

Haru's words vibrated oddly against his skin.

"What was that?" he asked pulling away slightly.

"I'm cold."

"I'll find you another blanket."

"There aren't any. I only have this one."

"Oh." Well, now he was at a loss. "Is there anything else you have that would work like a blanket? A towel maybe?"

"Yeah."

He waited. When it became obvious the other boy wasn't going to respond, he poked him.

"What, Haru? Tell me so I can get it."

The covers shifted and rolled. Sighing in exasperation, Rin moved further onto the bed to poke the other boy again.

"You're warm," Haru finally mumbled.

"What?" he asked confused.

"You're warm," Haru repeated more firmly with a look in his fevered eyes that said that was all the explanation needed and that he should hurry up and do something about the situation.

"Oh." _Oh._ "Alright. It's just a dream after all, so this is ok. Right?" Rin asked as he slid over next to Haru.

Haru nodded glad that the other teen got the point. _Finally._

Rin sighed. He was not supposed to be here. Sick Haru who thought he was dreaming was not really an improvement from a sleeping Haru that didn't know any better. Even as he berated himself for enjoying his predicament, he pulled the other teen closer so that his head rested on Haru's shoulder and his arms were wrapped around the lean, fevered body he adored.

* * *

It was _warm._ Finally.

The water…_tickled._ It was ghosting across his ear. Haru snuggled deeper into its presence.

It came back to him.

* * *

"Water."

Rin looked over to see what the other teen had said, but Haru was asleep. No wonder the kid thought he was dreaming, since he apparently talked in his sleep anyway.

"Water," Haru mumbled again, cuddling closer to the red haired teen.

Rin eyed the other teen oddly. Poor kid. He even dreamed about water.

* * *

Haruka woke up the next morning to Makoto pounding on his door. Ignoring his green eyed friend, he went about making breakfast, a light smile tugging at his face. He'd been warm again. Finally. His water came back to him. And Rin.

Haru frowned. Rin had been there too. With the water. Probably. Maybe. He wasn't really sure anymore. It had all been a dream anyway, so it didn't really matter.

* * *

He'd tried. He really had. This. This was definitely Haru's fault. He'd stayed away, but no, the other teen just couldn't leave him be. The azure eyed teen just had to get sick when he was the only one around. Then he wouldn't let himself be handed over to his brown haired lover.

He should have. Because Rin had barely woken up in time to duck out the door before the aforementioned brown haired teen had shown up at Haru's door. And now, now, his temper was shot. Again. _Stupid kid._

* * *

**Author's note:** I have an announcement. It's come to my attention that some of you believe the story may be over. As you can see, that is not the case. It will not be over...for...awhile... I dunno when, but I have a long, long way to go. Because, well, I haven't finished tormenting Rin. Or Haru. And things aren't mixed up enough yet. We haven't had enough misunderstandings. Maybe...? Hehe, dunno, anyhow, it's not over till my fingers won't type anymore, and they won't stop moving...

As always, thanks for the reviews. I admit to being entertained, Piplup99. When I read your review, my first thought was: Oh? You haven't seen anything yet. My second thought: Nothing is so bad I can't make it worse. Much worse. Mwuhahaha! (Although the evil laughter was all internal.) XP

And Ms. LemonLime, I am pleased to inform you, as stated above, it is not The End, but I'm glad to be able to have written something that could touch someone emotionally. I read your review, and here you go, a chapter written at 3 am because of you. ^.^ (Although I'm restraining myself from posting for a few hours because as soon as I do, my fingers will start to itch. They already are, and the next chapter has begun writing itself in my head... Scratch that, next chapter is already written...)


	9. Chapter 9

**Note from the author: I do not own in any way, shape or form, the anime, manga or any of the characters from Free!**

* * *

_Water. Water. Water!_

Haru was smiling when he went to school. Life was good. Last night, he'd been warm again. But…also, really cold. But in a warm kind of way. _Huh?_

He must still be partially asleep because even his own thoughts didn't really make any sense.

But, in the end, he'd figured it out. Water was, well, water. And warm was water but not water in a watery kind of way. The world made perfect sense. To Haru at least.

* * *

He was really going to do this? Really? Was he that desperate? Yes…Yes he was. He dialed.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Gou."

"Rin!"

He winced at the squeal.

"Hey."

"Is everything ok?" Gou asked tentatively.

"Yeah," Rin frowned. "Why wouldn't it be?"

"Oh. Well, it's just..." she trailed off.

"It's just?"

"You don't really ever call. Or text. Or stop by the house."

"Yeah," he sighed. "I know. Sorry. I just wanted to," he paused trying to decide how to ask then determined the indirect route was probably best. "I wanted to see how things were going."

"Oh, they're going great! Just yesterday…"

And apparently that's all he needed to say to get an update on everything in his little sister's life, which fortunately for him included the Swim Club. And Haru.

And an hour later, Rin _finally_ had what he wanted.

"We've all been a little worried actually."

"Oh?"

"Yeah, there's been something wrong with Haru."

"Hmm, I had noticed he'd was a little off his game during the joint practices, but he didn't seem too bad," Rin supplied going for the innocently oblivious approach.

"Oh yeah. I forgot about that. That was Nagisa's fault," Gou responded absently.

Rin's eyebrows shot up and disappeared below his bangs. _Nagi's fault?_

He wasn't entirely sure if he responded to that or if he just made some sort of noncommittal grunt, but Gou, wonderful sister that she was, helpfully continued talking.

"Yep! But even after that Haru wasn't really doing well. He had a hard time sleeping for some reason. We knew the rain would be hard on him, but he said that wasn't it," Gou chattered on.

"He did get better for a couple of days after that first joint practice we had, but after that, it seemed like he wasn't sleeping at all."

"I see." No. He still didn't. None of it made sense. Especially not the part about Nagi.

"Then today, all of a sudden, he's back to normal. It's great!" Gou told him excitedly.

"Yeah?"

"He came to school smiling and everything. Well, sort of. More like, you know, one of those Haru smiles, where he's kind of smiling, but sort of not really.

Now here was something he understood. A Haru smile. He knew exactly what his sister was talking about.

"Well, that's good I guess. Anyhow, Gou, I really have to head out. I'll talk to you later, ok?" It wasn't really a question.

* * *

Haru smiled sinking down into the warm water of his bathtub. Playfully, he blew bubbles. And more bubbles. They matched the bubbly feeling he'd had when he woke up this morning. Last night had been so _warm._

He liked warm. And water. But they were mixed up. Yesterday and the weeks before that too. But he understood now and because of that, today he'd been ok. And because he'd been ok, the water had made him happy. The water was his again. _Finally._

But the warm, that was odd. Confusing. Different. Water. But, not water. No, it was water. Sort of. _Maybe?_

* * *

**Author's Note:** I know. This chapter is kind of short, but I figure it balances out given that the last one was kind of long. Besides I needed it for plot. Anyhow, I'm debating on what sort of mischief to work next, so you'll get this chapter tonight, and the next chapter will come tomorrow morning. I'm trying to decide at the moment, but I think we've had enough plot for a chapter of two. I think I will write some fluffy. Some, erm, warm fluffy? Maybe? With maybe a tiny bit of plot. If it works out well. Maybe… XD

Orcux: Hehe. I laughed. I always feel that way about stories when I'm reading them, so I shall do my best to give you more as quickly as possible! Like, now, for instance. ^.^ I'll update again in the morning. I think I'm going to aim for 2 -3 chapters a day.


	10. Chapter 10

**Note from the author: I do not own in any way, shape or form, the anime, manga or any of the characters from Free!**

* * *

Haru sat staring out into the azure depths of the pool, knees drawn up close enough for him to wrap both arms around so that he could keep them from slipping across the tile. Water danced in his eyes even as his lids grew heavy. He fought it but only for a moment, reveling in the peacefulness of the watery depths playing out their role in life just before him. His eyes slid closed. Opened. Eyelashes fluttered. His head sunk. Then jerked up.

This one time, he didn't want to go under. He wanted to stay here. To watch the water. To feel the sun. Even if it meant he couldn't have that warmth. For today. Because it hadn't come yesterday. He knew because he'd waited. For hours. And today, well, he didn't feel like waiting for it. If it could come to him whenever _it_ felt like it, then he could choose when to go to it too. Or not go. His head bobbed again.

He didn't want to go. He had something to prove. To…something. Maybe himself. Maybe not. Who knew? Certainly not him. But he was going to prove…it. Whatever it was. His eyes slid shut again, and his head slid down to gently rest on top of his knees.

* * *

Rin found him like that. For a moment, it had almost looked like the raven haired teen was still awake, but the way his head was tilted and the deep easy movement of his chest was enough to convince him to risk getting closer. He released the breath he hadn't been aware he'd been holding until he saw that Haru's beautiful eyes were carefully hidden from the world in his sleep.

He shouldn't do this. He'd decided that already. Twice before he'd told himself with no amount of uncertainty that this was wrong. That he should stay away. That Haru was Makoto's or…was it Nagisa's. His talk with Gou hadn't helped as much as he'd hoped.

Third time's a charm, though, right? Or, if one were being brutally honest, the fact that you were on the third try meant you had already failed horribly two times before that and the third try wasn't likely to show any increased ability, especially not when you were talking about Haru. Or resisting Haru. Or..not _touching_ Haru. Yeah, something told him that maybe the third time wouldn't be the charm after all.

Oh well. It was partially Haru's fault. After all, he was the one that had made Rin stay with him the other day, and then to top it all off, he'd made him crawl in bed with him too. _Stupid kid._

* * *

Haru sat on the beach gazing out into the ocean. It was peaceful here too. But not warm. He was glad. But also, sad. He didn't want to be at the warmth's whim, but he wanted it too. His water but not water was annoying. It should be like the water. Always there for him. But no… It just had to be complicated. Well, he was not going to stand for this. And that was that.

* * *

Rin gingerly eased himself down so that he was kneeling behind the sleeping teen, one bent knee positioned on either side of his prey. His hands slipped into the open space between Haru's knees and chest where his favorite playground could be found.

Leaning forward so that there was only an inch or so of air between his skin and the oblivious boy's, Rin let his breath ghost across the shell of Haru's ear. He was pleased when the teen in his arms shuddered lightly at the intimate caress.

* * *

It was _here._

It tickled his ear, and he shuddered at the sensation.

It ran in languid caresses across his chest, and he couldn't help himself as another shudder ripped through him when it began trailing liquid paths down the muscles of his neck, stopping a moment to pull at the point where his pulse hammered loudly, before continuing on to trace a line down the sharp ridges of his spine.

This. Was. Not. _Fair._

His breathe left him. He wanted to fight this… Sensation. Because, well, because he could. And that was reason enough. Because this stupid water but not water had jacked around with his _actual_ water. And even though he liked it, he didn't like how it was _controlling_ him. Only his real water was allowed to do that.

He sucked in another breathe, gasping harshly as the smooth caresses from his chest vanished before reappearing to brush against him further below. And now he was naked in his dreams again. _Damn it! _He did not give permission for it to do that either!

But, he didn't want it to stop. Growling, partially at himself and partially at the warmth that was not water but was still sort of water, Haru settled back into the warm caresses, and finally relaxed into whatever would come.

He'd get annoyed again later. Tomorrow. Maybe. If he felt like it.

* * *

Rin sighed in relief. Haru had been shifting so much that he'd feared the other boy would wake up, but now, it seemed as though he fallen deeper into his nap.

The muscles he'd been tracing on Haru's back had eased. They'd been clenching and rippling under each trail he'd burned across them, glinting in the sun after he'd left them, but now, they were melting beneath his touch. He liked melting. Deciding he'd had enough, Rin pulled his hands out from beneath Haru's swimsuit, and grinning like an idiot at the sound of protest that drew from the azure eyed teen, he pulled the other boy gently back into his embrace.

Now Haru was much easier to reach, his head resting against Rin's chest and leaning over slightly into the crook of the red haired teen's shoulder so that each breathe he drew and released sent goose bumps skidding and careening down Rin's arms.

_This kid._

Clenching his teeth against Haru's own, unknowing, caress, he reached for the other boy again, his hands gently gliding across the hardened planes of Haru's chest then down further to trace the outline of his navel before dipping inside. As the teen shifted against him, face pressing closer into the skin his head was resting on, Rin gave up and sent his tongue and mouth after Haru's conveniently available neck. If you wanted the fish to resist the hook, then you probably shouldn't have baited it.

He'd be careful not to leave any marks. Probably.

His hands, finished with Haru's stomach, slid further down to the edges of the black and purple material of his swimsuit before edging just underneath to trace neat, perfect lines along the waistband.

* * *

It was _hot._

Really hot. And not the hot like he'd been in the pool too long on a really hot summer's day hot. Or even the kind of hot where he wasn't in the pool on a hot summer's day although he really wanted to be kind of hot. It was just…hot.

He wasn't sure anymore whether the water he felt trailing against his skin was the not water or his own sweat. And he was panting. Like he'd just run…a really long way.

Haru groaned when the not water stopped moving. Or at least moving down. It was now just casually skimming the skin beneath his swimsuit. Well. _Damn it again!_ He was dressed. Again. First it undresses him, now it dresses him. What was he? A doll? He was not a doll. And now, he was _annoyed._

And the stupid not water warmth needed to move. Somewhere. Somewhere else if one was being specific. But, it wasn't, and he was annoyed, and he wanted some revenge.

He squirmed. He was surrounded by the warmth, and it didn't seem like he would be able to move too much. Besides, the warmth tensed every time he moved, and he didn't want it to go away. He wanted…

_Retribution._

The warmth needed to be taught a lesson. And Haru had always been a good…teacher…

* * *

Rin, poor oblivious soul that he was, had been completely consumed by his ability to freely touch the raven haired teen in his arms. He was in heaven. The only way this could have been more perfect was if Haru had been awake. And willing.

He was so caught up in the feel of the other teen's skin beneath his fingers that it took him a moment to recognize that something had changed. And then he froze. His mind shut off, and it took a moment for him to get it to reboot, and sometime while all of this was happening, the sleeping Haru had gone from nuzzling his neck to licking.

Mind rebooted. Shut down imminent. Yep. He was dying. Haru was _licking_ him. This had to stop. Now. Because. Because. Because this stupid kid could tempt a saint, and he was _never_ applying for sainthood.

He had to get out of here. Now!

* * *

Haru grinned a little even as he licked the saltiness of the warmth that had encased him. For a water like entity, it was rather tense all of a sudden. But it…tasted…good. Yummy.

One lick. Then another. He couldn't really help it when a moment later his mouth found itself rather firmly attached.

* * *

Rin's mind blanked. Again. One minute he had a warm, sleeping boy in his arms, and now, he had a nightmare, still sleeping, but a nightmare nonetheless.

* * *

Haru woke abruptly when he felt himself sliding. He was…At the pool. Oh, he'd fallen asleep. He must've fallen over. Deciding it was late enough, he got up, grabbed his clothes, and headed home. When he got into the tub that night, he was still smiling. It felt _good._ A little payback even against a dream was _nice._

Maybe next time, his warmth would think twice before playing around with him that way. And maybe it would learn that it shouldn't ever mess with him.

_Or his water._

* * *

Rin was still beating himself up when he dragged himself home that night. He'd barely rounded the corner of the building when Haru had opened his azure eyes and shown them to the world. He was a first class kind of idiot. His mind had shut down, and in a rather vain and far too late effort at self defense, he'd pushed the other boy away. To the floor. Which had, unsurprisingly, woken him up. Fortunately, by the time Haru had been awake enough to move, Rin was already far, far away.

It wasn't until after he'd finished brushing his teeth that he finally realized exactly how much damage Haru had done. To him. To his emotions. And to his resolve not to go back.

He had…

He Had..

He had.

_A hickey?_

* * *

**Author's Note:** Poor Rin. Insert evil laughter here. I did promise all fluff, and no plot. Unless one counts a hickey as plot, but it's not, at the moment at least… Now, my lovely peoples, was it worth the wait of, erm, 3-ish non-fluffy chapters?

Also, emerald, I wrote this for you because you review made me feel all warm and fluffy inside, so here is a different kind of warm fluffy feeling just for you! And everybody else. XD

Love to all my reviews, followers, etc!


	11. Chapter 11

**Note from the author: I do not own in any way, shape or form, the anime, manga or any of the characters from Free!**

* * *

It was Saturday. No school. No swim club.

_Water._

But there was an ocean. With water. Lots of water. Nearby. How convenient.

* * *

It was late afternoon when Rin wandered the beach next to Haruka's house. He wasn't looking for the water loving teen, per say, but he wasn't averse to finding him either. Of course he wasn't. After all this just happened to be the beach the teen frequented.

And it was Saturday. And this was Haru, the kid who was always in the water. So he was either here, or he was at home in his bathtub. And he wasn't home because, fool that he was, Rin had already checked.

Half an hour later, Rin was getting ready to give up and head home when he found the raven haired teen napping in the shade of a surfboard stand.

"He's been here all day, and most of the time, he was in the water. Kid swims like a dolphin. I tried to get him to wake up and go home a while ago, but he wouldn't budge," the man behind the counter called out to him. "You a friend of his?"

"Something like that," Rin muttered before reaching down to shake the teen again. Haru mumbled and shifted in his sleep but otherwise gave no response.

He could just leave him here. That would be the smart thing to do. Or he could call Makoto to come pick him up. He could do _anything_ else besides what he was thinking of doing, and it'd be a heck of a lot smarter.

He knew it was a lost cause when his knees hit the sand. After hoisting the other teen up and shifting like crazy to keep from dropping him on his head, Haru was draped over his body well enough for him to attempt standing. He was sure they must've been a sight to behold, but he didn't let it stop him as he headed in the direction of Haru's house with the sleeping teen on his back.

* * *

Digging through Haru's pockets without letting the teen fall off was something of a challenge, but he finally managed to fish out the keys that would let him in the front door.

Walking into the other teen's room, he let Haru slide down until his feet hit the floor before carefully easing him back. It was a little amusing to see the other teen lying half in and half out of his bed, but nice friend-like person that he was, he slid the other boy into a more comfortable position.

Which couldn't be done without contact, unfortunately. Contact of the skin to skin variety.

He was doomed. Again. But, he was a big boy, and he was going to restrain himself. He was.

But, Haru needed a bath. Badly. Preferably before he spent all night covered in ocean salt and rolling around in his bed. Not to mention the sand. The sand that thanks to Haru was now all over Rin as well.

He shook Haru, gently at first, and then more roughly when the other teen refused to open his eyes. Haru was getting a bath. End of discussion. And if the other boy didn't wake his butt up to give himself one, then Rin was not going to be held responsible for anything that happened.

* * *

He was not sure how it had come to this. Part of it was crystal clear. He was in Haru's house. With Haru. He was ok to this point. He was in Haru's bathroom. Ok, that he could live with too. The part he was having a little trouble with was the part where he was in Haru's bathtub. With Haru. Naked. With Haru. Who was also naked. He was screwed. And not in the nicest sense of the word.

He was going to die. His original plan had been to strip the other teen, chunk him in the bath, rinse him off, pull him out, wrap him in a towel, and then toss him in bed, towel and all. Alone.

But, no, the moment he'd gotten the other teen in the tub, which had been a task in and of itself, the kid had taken a nosedive and tried to drown himself.

So Rin had kindly fished him out so that his head was above water again and turned away for approximately 1.2 seconds before turning around to find Haru trying to take off on another underwater adventure.

And now, here he was. Naked. In the bathtub. With Haru. Naked. It was the naked part he was having the hardest time with he decided, but he hadn't actually been prepared to go swimming when he'd hunted Haru down on the beach, so he hadn't been wearing a swimsuit, which is how he was now sitting here. Naked. In the bathtub. With Haru. Dying. In the bathtub. With a naked Haru.

Screw it. He was applying for sainthood after all. At this point, he was pretty sure he qualified.

* * *

_Water._

It was nice. Warm, not like the ocean, which was where he was. On the beach. Because he'd needed a nap. He was tired. But this. This was not the beach. This was…Somewhere.

His eyes opened. Lashes fluttered, blinked once, shut. _Bathtub?_ He didn't usually have dreams about being in the bathtub, but ok, whatever. Water was water.

The bathtub was warm, not cool like usual, and there was something else. Something different.

It wasn't important. Whatever it was.

Haru shifted to get deeper into the water. There was too much of his skin still exposed to the air. He shifted again. Frowned. He was moving, but he was still in the same place.

It didn't make sense.

He opened his eyes blearily. And saw nothing unusual. Nothing that explained why he wasn't moving. Maybe. Maybe he just _thought_ he was moving? He wiggled his toes. They didn't move.

Haru's eyes widened. He didn't like this dream. He wiggled his toes again. Then his foot. It felt like they were moving. The surface of the water stirred, shifted, and splashed near his feet.

There they were. Haru sighed in relief as his toes appeared in the water. They'd just been hiding. He smiled. The world was ok again. His eyes slid shut.

_Huh?_

Azure blue orbs were once again revealed to the world. Haru was confused. There were more feet in his bathtub than there ought to be. That was weird. It was a dream, so it was allowable. But, it was still weird. Really weird.

Wanting to get to the bottom of this mystery, Haru's gaze rested on the toes that were skimming the water next to his. Then he just followed the breadcrumbs so to speak. And found feet. Not surprising. He'd already known those were there. Then legs. Not his because his were right next to the new ones. And up and up. To his thighs. And...someone else's.

Ok, so he was in the bathtub. With a person. In his dream. Well, this was a little awkward.

Only now, he wanted to know who it was. Then, he could go back to sleep. In his dream? Well, he was really tired. And dreaming was kind of tiring too. So, back to sleep it was. After. Because he was curious.

* * *

Rin sucked in a breathe when Haru started moving again. He watched torn between resignation, horror, and amusement as Haru's gaze wandered from the tips of his toes all the way up to where the water loving teen sat tucked between his thighs. This was it. The moment he'd been dreading. The moment where Haru woke up and caught him. It had been good while it lasted.

He wasn't surprised, to say the least, when the azure eyed teen turned in his arms enough to peer up at him.

"Rin?"

_Well, shit._

* * *

**Author's note:** *giggles* Poor Rin. Just a word of warning for everyone, I have to help out at a kids' summer camp this week, so even though I'm going to try my hardest, the updates may come a little bit slower. But I will still try to stick to two a day as much as possible. Let me know what you guys think! Love ya!

P.S. SparklyPinkInk: Umm, thank you. ^.^ I loves you too?

BlueKaZeBlack: Noooo! I dun want you to be ended. Cuz then who will write me fluffy, loving reviews that make me all happy and give me warm fuzzy feelings?


	12. Chapter 12

**Note from the author: I do not own in any way, shape or form, the anime, manga or any of the characters from Free!**

* * *

This was…unexpected. But it was a dream, so it was ok. Even though it was kind of weird. Ok. Not just kind of. It was _really_ weird. But not because he was in a bathtub. With Rin. Naked. That part was not all that strange. Well, actually, it was. Kind of.

No, the weird part was that if he was going to have a dream about him and Rin. Naked. He would have expected it to be in a pool. Not a bathtub. Because, well, because he'd never seen Rin in a bathtub. Although, maybe that didn't matter that much because it was a dream. He'd also never seen Rin naked, but apparently his subconscious was pretty good at inspiring his imagination. Rin looked…real. Like he was really sitting there. In the bathtub. With him. Naked.

If Rei were here, he would probably tell Haru that this was his subconscious's way of telling him something. He'd probably also say that dreams could be interpreted in many different ways and that the elements that showed up in his dreams could be taken literally or they could have a deeper meaning.

Haru turned away from Rin's troubled eyes to peer towards the door, fully expecting Rei to walk in to start his lecture. After all, it was his dream, and he expected Rei to show up, so the younger teen would probably walk in any second now.

Any second…

Any second..

Haru frowned. Ok, maybe not.

Turning back to meet the resigned, gloomy red eyes of his, well, whatever Rin was to him now, Haru frowned, confused. Rin looked very…unhappy. Sad. Troubled. _Wounded._

That wouldn't do. Rin wasn't supposed to hurt. Because if he did, then Haru hurt. And Haru didn't want to hurt anymore. Because, well, because it was painful. Reaching up carefully, Haru patted Rin on the chest in what he thought was a comforting manner, but maybe he'd gotten it wrong because Rin just looked confused.

It was a dream though, so maybe it wasn't Rin that was confused? Maybe it was him. So if he figured out what was so confusing, then Rin would stop frowning. Right. Haru nodded to himself, completely missing Rin's scowl.

* * *

Really? This kid. Just woke up. In a bathtub. Naked. With another guy. And what does he do?

_Nothing._

While he was glad the other teen hadn't started yelling. Yet. It was also a little irritating to sit here, literally at the azure eyed boy's mercy. Waiting. For something. Anything.

* * *

He'd figured it out. After thinking about it for a few minutes, he was pretty sure he now understood what he was supposed to be learning. His dream was trying to tell him something really important. Three things actually.

The first is that, apparently, he was gay. After all, what else could it mean when you have a dream about being naked in a bathtub with another guy?

This was perhaps the most literal way this dream could be translated after all, and since Rei wasn't here to tell him he needed to look deeper than the literal, it's what he was going with.

Taking a break from his train of thought, Haru peered at the door again. Nope, no Rei. Ok then. _Next._

Second, he was possibly lusting after his ex-childhood friend or whatever Rin was. Possibly. Because he wasn't really sure. That was why he was dreaming. About Rin. So that, he could…determine if he was...later. Maybe… He wasn't sure if that was a literal explanation or one of those hidden interpretations. After all, it wasn't explicitly stated, but it wasn't exactly an off-the-wall conclusion to draw either.

Next.

And the final, and as far as Haru was concerned, most important revelation. His bathtub was, apparently, big enough for two. _Who knew?_

* * *

He wasn't moving. He was just sitting there. Doing n_othing._

The suspense was killing him. He was going to die. If his application for sainthood wasn't still pending, he'd probably drown the kid just to end the agony.

* * *

Interpret dream. _Check._

Now what?_  
_

Hmm, what to do, what to do? He'd learned a lot. But, he could learn more? Yes, he could. Because…Because Rin was here.

* * *

"Rin?"

_Finally._

"How come you keep showing up in my dreams?"

* * *

It was a legitimate question. Haru was pretty sure he knew, but maybe Rin could tell him if he'd gotten it right?

* * *

Rin looked at the teen groggily staring up at him in a mixture of profound horror and disbelief. He _had_ to be kidding. Right? Because Haru was not this stupid. Right?

* * *

Rin didn't answer, so Haru did the only thing he could really do in this sort of situation. He poked him. In the chest. And when that didn't get a response, he poked him again.

* * *

_Twitch._

He was going to drown this kid. Period. And no one would ever have to know.

* * *

Huffing in annoyance, Haru gave up and turned back around, sliding as far down as the arms wrapped around his torso would let him. And they sat. In silence. Because this was Haru's dream, and if Rin wasn't going to be cooperative, then he wasn't going to be cooperative either.

* * *

Rin waited and waited. Nothing. Application still pending. He better get a damn halo when this was over.

* * *

He was warm. Partly from the bathwater, but mostly from Rin. It was nice. It kind of felt like his water that wasn't really water. Either way, Rin was warm.

Sighing, Haru leaned his head back against Rin's chest, listening to the beat of the red eyed teen's heart. It was nice. Soothing. He was sleepy again, but he didn't want to go. Because he liked this. This warmth. _Rin._

* * *

Was he seriously going back to sleep? This kid was the most oblivious, idiotic person in the world. He could be _anybody_ doing anything, and the stupid kid would probably sleep through it all.

* * *

So nice. Like water. But not. Haru's eyes blinked sleepily. Something caught his eye.

_Water._

A single droplet that slid down tanned skin. _Water. _He wanted it. Because…because it was water, which meant it was his. Not Rin's.

His tongue flicked out catching the drop as it slid against Rin's nipple before veering around it to trail further down his chest. It was salty. He hadn't expected that. It was nice. Like the ocean.

Lazily peering around, Haru couldn't help but notice the light sheen that seemed to make the red haired teen's skin glisten. _Mine._

* * *

_Oh God._

Once he could live with, but he was not prepared for Haru to turn around in his arms and start licking his way across his chest.

Sainthood…

Sainthood..

Sainthood.

* * *

Rin licked the salty sheen from the tanned skin to his side before struggling to turn around to find any that he might have missed. Only, he found himself caught. By Rin. His arms to be specific.

Frowning heavily, Haru reached out and poked first one then the other before turning around to glare up at the other teen.

When Rin didn't appear to be moving anytime soon, Haru decided the other teen needed to be taught a lesson. This was Haru's dream. Of Rin to be sure, but still. His dream. His rules.

Turning his head slightly, Haru nuzzled the tanned skin. Rin stiffened behind him then finally relaxed. Haru smiled. Then very gently, he set teeth to skin.

Rin's strangled groan made Haru feel better. One, it meant Haru was in charge. Two, Rin had learned a valuable lesson, and three, Haru could now turn around because the other teen's hands had parted to cover the offended spot.

Making the most of his new-found freedom, Haru turned so that he was sitting in Rin's lap, straddling the other teen but facing forward. Towards Rin. Who was a rather interesting shade of red.

* * *

Sainthood.

Application still pending.

* * *

Haru returned to his previous task, and when he'd finished with all the reachable portions of Rin's chest, he started to work his way up. And up. And up. Until he found… a hickey?

Now wait just one minute. This was his dream. Which made Rin _his._ And if Rin was his, then he should not have a hickey. Unless he'd given him one. And he hadn't. Because…because he would remember if he had.

It wasn't right. No one else should have touched Rin. Because it was his dream. His Rin.

Which made this travesty completely and utterly...

_Unforgivable__._

* * *

Rin was beginning to think the raven haired teen had drifted off to sleep again. One minute the other boy had been licking him like a favored popsicle, water flavored because this was Haru he was talking about, and the next the other teen had gone silent and stopped moving, which was a blessing.

He sat still for a few more moments, thinking now would be a good time to get them both out of the bath before the other teen woke up again if Haru would just cooperate and stay asleep. But, sadly for him, it was not to be. About the time he decided to try and make a run for it, Haru shifted. And latched on. With his mouth.

Really?_ Again?_

* * *

He was _pleased._

Whoever had placed that mark was out of luck. His dream. His Rin. His mark.

The mark that had previously been just a slight bruising was now going to be a much darker shade, and he was…

_Delighted._

* * *

Application for Sainthood…

Not up for review. Yet.

Because saints didn't have to suffer this much. Right?

Haru gave his skin one last lick to soothe any ache before laying his head on Rin's shoulder. When he ceased moving for a while, Rin very carefully turned the boy just enough to be sure he was really asleep before hauling himself and the obnoxious teen in his arms out of the bath.

He all but tossed the kid in bed, towel and all as originally intended, before walking out the back door, only to turn around a second later to grab the spare key off the table just inside the door before locking the bane of his existence inside.

* * *

There was no way he was going to be able to cover this one up.

It was obvious. Really, really obvious.

He sighed. The bright side was that no one would know where he got it from. Not even Haru. Probably.

It was a long time before Rin went to sleep that night. His mind couldn't seem to leave his thoughts of the water loving boy behind. And his fingers burned against the cold metal of the key still in his hand.

* * *

**Author's note:** Hehe, day one and I'm already behind. XD Sorry I couldn't update this morning. There was just something about being in a camp full of 12 -14 yr old girls that made it a little inappropriate to write this chapter. Dunno what it could've been…

Anyhow, thanks to all my lovely reviews. I was so excited. I think I got a lot more reviews for this chapter, so it made me really happy. I had to force myself to read them when no one else was around because half of them made me grin like an idiot. Hope it was worth the wait!

Haruka: I love you.

SparklyPinkInk: You make me giggle.

Stella: I know exactly what you mean. Hope I didn't make you wait too long.

KaZe: You may say it as much as you want. It makes me smile every single time. :D


	13. Chapter 13

**Note from the author: I do not own in any way, shape or form, the anime, manga or any of the characters from Free!**

* * *

"Mako?"

"Hmm?" Makoto asked looking down at the azure eyed teen whose head was presently occupying his lap.

"Do you remember when life was simple?"

"I'm not sure that life has ever been simple, Haru. Why?"

It had been. Once. He was sure of it. Simple was…water. That's all it had been. Just water. Nothing else had mattered. Because water was life, and life was water. It just didn't get any simpler than that, and until a few…weeks ago, life had been simple. Or maybe it hadn't. Maybe it had changed that one day at the pool when Haru was left with the sight of his friend's tears streaming down his face.

"Just curious," Haru muttered looking away from the concerned green eyes peering down at him from over the book Makoto was reading.

Neither teen said a word for a while, and Makoto was almost certain his friend was asleep when Haru finally spoke.

"Makoto?"

"Yes, Haru," Makoto sighed.

"Do you think it's possible to love someone you hate?" Rin hated him after all, but it was...possible that Haru liked the red haired teen. He wasn't sure, but it _was_ possible. Probable even.

"I don't know. I suppose it would depend on why you hated them," Makoto paused, "And how much you wanted to love them."

"For existing. And you don't. What then?"

The more Makoto thought about it the less this was starting to sound like a question one asked because they were curious. And Haru's answers were too sure. It was like he had a particular set of people in mind.

"Haru?"

"Yeah?"

"Where does it hurt?" Haru blinked then looked away from his friend's piercing gaze.

"Here," he finally replied, his hand resting lightly on his chest just over his breastbone.

Makoto laid his hand on top of his friend's while his other hand caressed the teen's raven hair.

"I can't make it better, Haru. That's up to you, but I'll be here if you need someone. You know that, right?" Makoto asked quietly.

"Yeah. You're always here," he replied turning over and burying his head into Makoto's stomach so that the brown haired teen wouldn't see if a few agonized tears slid from his eyes.

* * *

He was going to return Haru's keys. He shouldn't have taken them in the first place. He wasn't even sure why he had. If he wanted to lie to himself, he could have said it was to make sure Haru was securely locked in for the night, but he knew that wasn't the reason.

He could just chunk them in an open window. If he could find one. Or maybe drop them by the back porch. Or something.

He rounded the last corner before Haru's house. And stopped. And couldn't move.

In a way, it was like watching a train wreck. One minute, you're just innocently going about your life when you notice there's a car stuck on the tracks. You think, Oh no. How horrible. It'll be all right though. They'll get it off in time. But then you hear it. The whistle that tells you time has run out. You feel the vibrations under your feet telling you that it's the end. And you watch. Helpless. Because there's really nothing you can do. You can yell and scream, but it doesn't do any good. Because the people in the car, well, they already know.

You can't see it, but you're sure their eyes are wide with terror. You're sure they want to get out. To run. But they can't. And the people on the train, well, they're oblivious. They just look out the window, merrily going on with their lives. They don't even realize what's happening. They won't know until they hit. And then there's you.

You who can do nothing but watch in horrified fascination. Afraid to watch, but afraid to look away. Until that last moment. That moment when the train hits the car. When metal slides against metal and all that's left behind is the twisted remnants of what used to exist, and the bloodied, mangled souls that survive.

That's what it was like for Rin. Makoto and Haru were here, looking so peaceful. Haru's head lay in Makoto's lap and the brown haired teen's hands alternated between tangling in the other boy's hair and rubbing circles up and down the slender teen's back. They looked so peaceful. And innocent. And…happy.

Like the passengers in the train.

And then here he was. Torn between sitting in a car on the tracks and being the outside observer. Torn because he'd known this was coming. He'd known that there was really nothing he could do, but also knowing that the person who was going to get bloodied when this was over was him. And he felt it.

This moment. This was the moment filled with the sound of screeching metal. The moment when he truly accepted the inevitable. Haru was Makoto's. And he needed to leave them alone. To be happy. Because no matter what, he did not want Haru to be one of the mangled souls that came out of the train wreck he would cause. He wanted Haru to be really far away. And Makoto too. Because Haru loved him.

* * *

"Haru?"

"Yeah, Mako?"

"What if," he paused trying to find the right words. "What if you're wrong?"

"Hmm?"

"About this other person. What if they don't hate you?"

"They do."

"You sure?"

"Yeah."

He wasn't sure Haru was right because he had a pretty good idea who his raven haired friend was referring to, and he was pretty sure the red haired teen didn't hate Haru at all.

* * *

He was pretty sure it wasn't supposed to hurt like this. People always say when you love someone, you can feel it in your heart, but his heart seemed just fine.

But his chest? Not so much.

Back when he'd left Haru that first time, he'd felt a little twinge right below his breastbone. When he'd left him after he was sick, it was still there. In the same place. But…deeper. After the bathtub incident, it had burned a little more thoroughly.

Now, now his chest was on fire. He could feel the line of nerves that ran beneath his skin. Each and every one of them. Like lightning. It came and it went. Every time he thought of Haru, another jolt would streak across his chest.

He turned on the shower to try and soothe the way his body ached, but he knew there was nothing that could be done. The water would never be able to reach deep enough to cool the streaks of fire burning him alive. But this way, he could say that the water streaming across his face came from above him.

He leaned over to rest his head against the tiled wall. One thought foremost in his mind.

This must be what it felt like to _shatter_.

_Into a million pieces. To never be made whole again._ _For no amount of glue can fix the remnants of a shattered soul._

* * *

**Author's note:** Consider this my 2nd update for the day? I couldn't not write this chapter. Rin was tearing my heart out inside my head, so it had to go down. Unfortunately, I suffer from this inability not to post immediately after I've written stuff. I would like to ask that you guys review the last chapter too if you were going to, though, please! *puppy eyes* It helps me know what kind of things you guys like to read.

Love you all!

Stella: I just got crueler…

Ivannab2: Here you go! More for you.

Legacy: If I speed up too much, the story ends. :P

Animecherry: He feels guilty. It's easy not to take things too far when the other is dressed. (Sort of dressed.) But a lot harder when you're *cough* conveniently *cough* naked.

Love to alls!


	14. Chapter 14

**Note from the author: I do not own in any way, shape or form, the anime, manga or any of the characters from Free!**

* * *

_Rin._

Innocent eyes widened, startled. He was in class. Staring out the window. This was usually about the time where his fingers started itching for the glide of the waves he created as he paved his own path through the azure depths of the nearest body of water.

But not today.

Why? Because today, they ached for something else entirely. He'd thought about it for some time after Mako had left yesterday, and he was almost entirely sure he had…_feelings_ for Rin.

What kind of feelings, and to what depths he felt them, he wasn't really sure. And worse, he wasn't sure how to find out.

Suddenly, Haru's beautiful blue eyes narrowed, a flash of annoyance lit his face. Water was _simple._ He did not need this. These…_complication_s. He wanted water. Not…Not…

Sighing loudly, Haru's forehead hit the desk with a light bang, startling everyone in class. Once was a little strange, but their teacher carried on until the light sound came again and again as the teen repeated the motion.

"Haruka?"

When Haru just continued without seeming to hear, Makoto jumped in, grabbing the boy's shoulder and jerking him up, while apologizing to their teacher and the rest of the class.

"Sorry, Sensei. He's just been having some problems sleeping lately."

Haru ignored everyone, staring out into space.

He did not need. He did not want.

_Rin._

* * *

"Haru?"

"I'm fine Mako."

"Do you want to talk about it?"

Haru just shook his head before diving into the pool.

_Water._ The perfect escape. From Mako. From the world. From reality. From _Rin._

Except, even as he slid into the water, he realized he wasn't really escaping at all. At least not from the one thing, one person, he wanted to escape the most.

Rin was here. Not _here_, here, but here just the same.

Haru broke the surface of the water stopping in the middle of the pool. It was just him now, and Mako who'd stayed behind to watch over him.

Life wasn't simple. It should be. Because he was in the water. So life should be simple. Because, well, because it should be. Because he said so.

But it wasn't. Because of Rin. Because even though the red haired teen wasn't anywhere nearby, Haru still felt him. On his skin. Surrounding him. Like the water.

But, Rin wasn't water. So he shouldn't be here. In the pool. With Haru. It wasn't right.

And now, Haru wasn't sure what to do. Because how do you escape someone when they won't let you go?

Rin hated him. A lot. He was always angry. At Haru. Because of what he was. Something that the azure eyed teen couldn't help. And because it wasn't something he could fix, he couldn't do anything about it, which meant that no matter what, Rin would always hate him. Even though it wasn't his fault. Even though it wasn't _fair_.

* * *

Makoto watched Haru tread water in the center of the pool. From where he was standing, he could see the disturbing mix of emotions playing across the shorter boy's face. Annoyance. Anger. Frustration. Sorrow.

The last one broke him.

Easing into the pool, Makoto swam up to his water loving friend and pulled him in to rest in the circle of his arms.

"It's going to be ok, Haru," Makoto told the other boy gently.

"Promise?"

The quiet, almost childish question nearly killed him, and he pretended the droplets now trailing down his chest all came from the chlorine scented waters of the pool surrounding them.

"Let's get out of the pool, Haru."

Eventually, Haru nodded, pulling away and swimming for the nearest edge before dragging himself up.

Makoto sighed again when Haru refused to budge from his new spot sitting on the edge of the pool, feet hanging in the water, and eyes gazing out across the blue depths that matched his eyes.

Grabbing a towel, Makoto dropped down to sit by his shorter friend before tossing the towel over the other boy's head and then commencing to dry his best friend's hair like a fluffy dog he'd just drug out of the bath.

By the time Makoto pulled the towel away, his friend's raven hair was sticking up in all directions, but the sadness that had previously lurked in his stunning azure eyes had disappeared, and there was a light smile on his face.

"Let's go home, Haru," Makoto said offering his hand to the other boy to pull him up.

"Ok."

"Hey, Mako?" Haru asked waiting until he had his friend's attention.

"Yeah?"

"Thank you."

"Anytime."

And because he knew his green eyed friend really meant it, Haru smiled.

* * *

"Rin?" Nitori called from the other side of the bathroom door.

No answer.

"You ok?"

Still no answer.

"I'm going to head out to practice."

Nothing.

"I'll tell the Captain you're not feeling well," the grey haired teen called, sighing lightly when he still received no response.

He wasn't sure what had happened to the other boy, but whatever it was, it couldn't have been pleasant. Because he'd never seen Rin look so…so…

_Broken._

* * *

**Author's note:** First of all, I feel obligated to point out that I uploaded 2 chapters yesterday! I say this because for some reason, chapter 13 has more views than chapter 12, and I don't want anyone to have accidentally missed out on chapter 12.

Next!

I'm so glad everyone likes the story so far. I was reading all the reviews again, and I was thinking, you know, it seems like just the other day that this was just a one-shot. Now, it's taken on a life of its own…

Thanks again to all my reviewers! I got a lot of support for the last couple of chapters. I was so glad that I could at least make a couple of people feel Rin's pain.

KaZe: I just have to say: I read your review, and you almost made _me_ cry. Thanks for all your wonderful complements! Love you!

Legacy: Rin does have awful timing doesn't he? But, sadly, isn't that how life always is? Something really simple gets all complicated because people get all these weird ideas in their head, but they never bother to share their thoughts with other people.

**Just a last note to everyone now, I decided not to make a sequel to this story at the moment. I was originally going to cut it off after 15 chapters then do another 15 chapter sequel for Haru, but I'm just going to keep them both in the same story. So one more chapter after this one, and it's Haru's turn! (For what, I'm not saying. :P )**


	15. Chapter 15

**Note from the author: I do not own in any way, shape or form, the anime, manga or any of the characters from Free!**

* * *

"Rin?" Nitori ventured.

"What?" was the growled response.

Nitori winced. At least Rin had come out of the bathroom. Although, he was acting like a bear with a sore paw, which, at least from the grey haired teen's perspective, wasn't really a major improvement.

"We're having another joint practice today."

Rin looked up, startled and something akin to horror danced in his expressive red eyes before his face went blank.

"I just…" Nitori trailed off, unsure. "I didn't want you to be startled. You know?"

Rin nodded before turning away from his younger roommate to stare out the window.

Nitori sighed. Today was going to be a long day.

* * *

"You need to stop skipping practice, Rin."

"Yeah. Sure."

"I mean, I know why you might want to, but still you need to show up anyways," Mikoshiba continued waggling his eyebrows suggestively.

Rin just sent his captain a look like he was an idiot, which most of the time, Rin was sure the other red head actually was.

"What are you talking about?"

When his captain suddenly threw one arm around his shoulder and dragged him over until they were practically inhaling the same air, Rin stopped breathing. Then, he started twitching. What the_ hell_?

"You know what I mean," the red head whispered loudly, the kind of whisper one might use to tell a secret one wanted everyone to hear.

"No, I don't. And get off," Rin replied trying to shove his idiot captain away.

"Yes," Mikoshiba paused evilly, one finger coming up to rest on the side of Rin's neck, "You do."

When his captain finally released him and walked away, Rin was still confused. And matters didn't become any clearer when several of the guys slapped him on the back as they were leaving and congratulated him.

"Umm," Nitori finally spoke up, "Rin?"

"What?" He snapped.

Gently, the grey haired teen took Rin by the arm and brought him to stand in front of one of the floor length mirrors. And pointed.

"Oh."

_Haru._

And whatever healing, slight though it was, that he'd managed to find locked in his room the day before was undone.

* * *

Practice was over. Finally. Which was an unusual thought, at least it was for Haru.

But, now, he could find Rin. Find being the operative word because the other teen kept disappearing. Like literally. One minute. He was there. Haru would get up to go talk to him. He'd look away for one second. Boom. Rin was gone.

"Let's go get ice cream!" Nagisa piped in suddenly, interrupting Haru's thoughts.

Haru smiled at the younger boy. Ice cream sounded nice. Makoto also gave a small nod, and apparently, Rei's opinion didn't matter because after that, they were set to go grab some ice cream as soon as everyone was changed.

Meaning Haru. Because, naturally, he was the only one still not dressed.

"Ice cream, huh?" The Samezuka Captain asked coming over. "There's a pretty good place down the street."

"Really?" Nagisa practically bounced in excitement.

"I'm going to go change, and I need to talk to Rin for a minute," Haru interjected turning away.

"Rin?" Mikoshiba grinned.

Haru eyed the other teen warily. "Yeah, why?" There was something about the other boy's wide, creepy smile that made Haru want to start backing away.

"I'm not sure if he's still here or not. He skipped practice yesterday for it too," he mumbled, more to himself it seemed than anyone else.

"For what?" Nagisa asked curiously.

"Huh?" The red head actually looked startled.

"Rin likes to swim a lot. What'd he skip practice for?" Nagisa asked again.

"Oh," Mikoshiba grinned conspiratorially and motioned them closer. When it seemed they were close enough, he continued.

"Your former teammate is getting some!"

Four pairs of eyes blinked at him.

"Some? Some what?" Nagi finally asked the question Haru himself now wanted the answer to.

"Some. You know. _Some,_" the Samezuka Captain replied.

The way he said it, it almost sounded like it was supposed to make more sense just because he'd emphasized it. But…it didn't. Not to Haru at least, and if his teammates' expressions were anything to go by, Nagi and Mako didn't get it any more than he did.

Rei, however, might have understood because he was now staring off across the pool trying to look pretty much anywhere where he didn't have to make eye contact with someone.

"Some? Like candy? Or some ice cream? Or chocolate?"

"Uh, no."

"Then some _what_? I want to know!" Nagisa was practically nose to nose with the red head at this point, making puppy eyes and generally looking pathetic.

"Tail," the captain finally gave up and gave it another try. At this point, he wasn't sure all of these guys had been given the whole birds and the bees talk, so he was not going into too much detail. End of discussion. That was…someone else's job. Now, he kind of regretted mentioning it.

"He's getting a tail?" Nagisa asked again just to make sure he'd heard right. "Like cosplay?"

"That doesn't sound like something Rin would do," Haru interrupted, shaking his head.

He wasn't sure why, but the Samezuka Captain had started twitching, and Rei, well, Rei had started shaking.

Turning to Makoto, Haru found the brown haired teen exchanging long looks with their butterfly swimming counterpart. He had this really obstinate look on his face. Like someone was telling him to do something, and he was having no part in it.

"What kind of character is he cosplaying as?"

And then Makoto just seemed to wilt. Grabbing Nagisa and Haruka by the arm, he drug them both off to the side where a flurry of whispered explanations left Makoto blushing severely. While the other two boys just stared at him blankly.

Until…

"Rin's got a girlfriend?" echoed loudly across the building.

* * *

"You know," the red headed captain murmured watching the scene play out before him, "You've got some pretty strange teammates."

"You have no idea," Rei replied.

* * *

He wasn't sure how to take this. Rin having a girlfriend that is. He'd always assumed that the only major problem between him and the red headed teen had been that Rin hated him. Theoretically, if he could just get around that, and if he wanted to, then there wouldn't have been anything standing in the way of their…their…_relationship?_

* * *

Makoto watched Haru carefully. He admitted to being a little stunned himself at the revelation, but he wasn't sure how far the other boy had gone in trying to understand the pull that existed between him and his rival.

"I'm going to get dressed."

When Makoto made as if to follow after his raven haired friend, Nagisa laid his hand on the older boy's arm.

"He'll be ok."

Makoto looked down, startled.

"Haru will figure it out. By himself. But, we can be here if he needs us, right?" Nagisa added patting the brown haired teen comfortingly.

Makoto nodded, his thoughts following the other teen even as his body walked away.

* * *

Haru frowned. He couldn't figure out what he was feeling.

Mad? No. Sad? Not really. Happy? Definitely not.

Frustrated? _Yes_. That was it.

He was frustrated. Because he'd just, sort of, figured things out. He _liked_ Rin. He'd admitted it.

Rin didn't like him. He accepted that.

They had a problem. Conflicting emotions and all that jazz. But, they could have worked around it. Probably. If Rin was gay, which was the one topic Haru hadn't yet figured out how to ask about.

But it didn't matter. Because now, he had the answer.

The echo of shoes on tiled flooring had Haru peering towards the door even as he finished buttoning his shirt.

"Rin?" Well, speak of the devil and he shall arrive to meet you. And drive you crazy.

"Haru!"

* * *

_Shit._

The one person he didn't want to see.

He stood there a moment trying to remember how to move his legs before heading for his locker, head down.

"Rin," Haru sighed behind him. "How've you been?"

"Fine."

"Oh. Umm," the other teen trailed off sounding as if he hoped his red headed rival would at least try and supply him with some words.

Nope. Wasn't going to happen. And as soon as he grabbed his stuff, he was going to go back and lock himself in his room again. And think about never coming out.

* * *

Haru groaned. This was like pulling teeth. His own.

"Rin," he started again, "I didn't see you at practice much today."

"I didn't feel like being there."

The biting tone startled him. Then, he was annoyed. What was Rin's problem now? Whatever it was, he hadn't done it, so the red head could go take his anger out on someone else. Preferably whoever deserved it. Just. Not. _Him._

"Rin?"

* * *

He didn't get it. The stupid, dense idiot couldn't even figure out that he didn't want to talk. And it was obvious. Or…it should have been. Except this was Haru, so apparently not.

* * *

When Rin didn't answer, Haru did the only thing he could do. Well, not the only thing. Just the only thing he _felt_ like doing.

He walked up behind the stewing teen, grabbed one shoulder, spun him around, and slammed him back into the lockers.

* * *

Rin's eyes widened.

One minute, he was, very successfully, ignoring the azure eyed boy changing behind him, and the next, the same aforementioned boy had him pinned. And he looked annoyed. Very, very annoyed.

"What's wrong with you?"

"Uh…"

"Obviously something is wrong. What is it? Because if you don't even know, then you shouldn't take your problems out on innocent people."

Well. Would you look at that. Haru could _growl. _

The whole situation was kind of funny. In a slightly hysterical sort of way. Here was Haru, the bane of his existence, telling him that he shouldn't be blaming innocent people for his problems. Haru was not innocent. Well, he wasn't exactly guilty either, but he wasn't completely innocent in the whole mess.

"Rin?"

Rin sighed, resigned. "What?" he asked sullenly.

"Is that a hickey?"

Rin's head shot up so fast he banged it against the lockers at his back. _Well, shit._

* * *

Rin had a hickey. Not exactly a monumental revelation. He did have a girlfriend after all.

But…

It was a little strange. Haru hadn't seen Rin in…weeks. And yet, Rin had a hickey. A hickey, which strangely enough not only resembled, but looked exactly like the one he'd given to Rin in the dream he'd had two days ago.

"Uh, I have to go," Haru blinked, startled, as Rin jerked out of his grasp and fled from the locker room.

* * *

**Author's note:** Here is your 2nd chapter of the day. Since I can't seem to get them out in the mornings before camp, I'll try and do 2 in the afternoons. The last chapter was more for plot than anything else, so hopefully it wasn't too bad.

Legacy: Enjoy?

Love to all my reviewers!


	16. Chapter 16

**Note from the author: I do not own in any way, shape or form, the anime, manga or any of the characters from Free!**

* * *

Today was _the _day. Today he was going to figure it out. What it was exactly, he'd yet to determine. But there was…something. Something important, and it was close. Really close.

And today was going to be the day. Because. Just because. Never mind that he'd had the exact same thought every day since they'd had that last joint practice at Samezuka.

But that didn't matter because today was definitely the day.

* * *

Today was not the day. He'd spent the better part of class trying to figure out what was bugging him. Then he'd even spent part of swim practice doing the same thing. He'd burnt himself making dinner because he hadn't been paying attention, and now, his bath was getting cold, and he couldn't even properly enjoy it.

Haru swiped at the cooling water in frustration. He was going to put it out of his mind and just not think about it. Or at least he was going to try. Really, really hard. And if it didn't work, then tomorrow, he was going to Samezuka. And when he got there, he was going to strangle Rin.

Sighing in resignation, he sunk further into the tub. Stupid Rin. This was all his fault.

_Rin._

If he'd never seen that mark on Rin's neck, he'd have been fine. But he had. And now, he was confused. How had he known it would be there? Had he seen Rin without realizing it? Maybe heard some girl talking about him?

He didn't think so, but…

It was too…

_Coincidental._

What were the odds?

Haru sat up abruptly. He'd been thinking about his dream a lot recently. Replayed it over and over in his head. But, he'd been so focused on what had happened _in_ the dream that he'd completely forgotten all the other strange things that had happened that day.

Like mysteriously appearing at home when he'd gone to sleep by that surfboard shop.

Or like waking up naked. Well, there'd been a towel in bed with him, but if it had ever covered him, it had given up that task long before morning.

And there'd been other things. When he'd dreamed about Rin, it hadn't felt…unusual? Almost like it wasn't the first time, and now that he thought about it, he remembered another dream he'd had about Rin some weeks before that. And also that dream he'd had about being sick where Rin had come to keep him warm.

Warm. Rin was warm. And he was like water.

But not?

Haru frowned. Where had that thought come from?

It was starting to sound like…

…

…

…

Rin was going to _die._

* * *

**Author's Note:** Sorry I didn't get around to updating yesterday and for the short chapter today. I got a migraine yesterday, and I'm just not feeling well. If I'm doing better tomorrow, I'll try and post a nice long chapter for you guys to make up for it. I started trying to write yesterday, but I figured I should wait until I could string two thoughts together. Anyhow, thanks to all my readers and reviewers!

On a random note, and for the sake of my own curiosity, if you guys review, would you tell me what your favorite part of the story has been so far? Can come from any chapter. ^.^ Hope to hear from you soon! Love always,

-Daya


	17. Chapter 17

**Note from the author: I do not own in any way, shape or form, the anime, manga or any of the characters from Free!**

* * *

Now that he was here, he was strangely reluctant to continue. The surety he'd felt in the eve of the night had left him, and with the dawn of a new day, he wasn't quite as confident in his conclusions.

Was he right? And more to the point, did he really want to know? Because, really, if he thought about it, he wasn't sure. This was one of those questions that, if answered, had the power to change _everything._ It could steer him to a path he was no longer confident he could, or should, take.

And the problem was, he was here. Steps away from knowing. He just had to move. One foot. Then another. And maybe a few more after that, but he couldn't. He was frozen.

What if he was wrong? How crushing could that be? Would he survive it? What would he do?

And if he was right? Would that be better? Or worse? Would he have the courage to do anything further? Or would he simply sit on his new-found knowledge? Was this one of those things he could just _know_ and not do anything about?

This was something new. A feeling he'd never known before. For the first time in his life, he was _afraid._ And of the truth no less. What was that old saying? The truth will set you free? But he was standing here, and he knew beyond all doubt that whoever had said that was wrong.

Because while it could set you free, it could also bind you. It could tie you down with invisible ropes and chain you to the floor with thousand pound weights of emotion dragging upon all of your limbs. It could immobilize you, and then stand idly by as you self destructed under the stress of a knowledge you were never supposed to have.

It was true. There were some things that ordinary people weren't supposed to know. Some truths they simply couldn't handle.

It was strange to feel the warmth of the sand beneath his feet and yet not be comforted by it. The ocean waves should have calmed him with their peaceful, rocking rhythm, but even they could do nothing for the heart that was racing in his chest. The give and take of the tides against the beach were now his only toehold in a less complicated world, and he longed to turn away from the task before him to frolic in the salty waves.

He had a choice. He could leave things as they were. He didn't have to _know._ He could enjoy the peacefulness of the beach. He should enjoy it. Because it was water.

He'd decided. The truth did not always set you free, and what need had he for any more chains? He wanted freedom. His feet moved him without conscious thought.

"Hey, it's the swimmer!" the cheery greeting knocked him from his thoughts.

His mind still sought the sanctity of the waves, but perhaps he needed the truth after all. Because he was here. There was no going back.

"Did your friend get you home ok last weekend?"

"Uh, yeah."

"I'll tell you the truth. When he first turned up, I was a little concerned, but he seemed to know you, so I figured it'd be all right," the older man replied sheepishly from his position behind the counter of the surfboard stand.

"No, I got home fine," Haru murmured.

"That's good to hear."

"Can I ask you a question?" He still wasn't sure he wanted an answer. But, now, he wasn't sure he could live without one either.

"Ha!" the older man barked, "You just did."

Ignoring that, Haru continued, "I'm trying to remember which friend it was that took me home. Do you remember what they looked like?"

Poor kid. It kind of made him wonder how often this happened and how many friends the kid had that would just randomly pick him up and walk off with him. "Well, sure, I remember. Pretty memorable guy, your friend."

Haru waited.

"Ahaha," the older man laughed a little. Very serious kid, this one. "Red hair, red eyes, about your height."

Haru nodded his thanks before turning away.

"Hey kid! A word of advice from a nosy old man."

Haru stopped and looked back.

"You might want to try taking your naps at home. Your friends might worry less if you did!"

One more nod.

* * *

It was only late morning, and he'd already skipped class for most of the day, so there seemed little point in attending now.

Besides, he had one more stop today.

_Samezuka._

* * *

"Hey, Nanase! What're you doing here?" the Samezuka Captain asked exuberantly when Haru made an appearance just after the other school's practice was over.

"I just…" he trailed off. He hadn't really thought about how to ask what he wanted to know. He didn't want the red headed captain to meddle in his personal affairs, but he still needed answers.

"Just…?"

Then he had an idea.

"Do you remember a few weeks ago, back when I was having problems sleeping, and you let me stay late?"

"Uh, yeah."

"Did you send someone to come…check on me?" Haru hesitated. Hopefully, that hadn't sounded too suspicious.

"Hmm, yeah. Why?"

The Samezuka captain was looking at him curiously now. Curiosity was not what he needed.

"I just, um, lost some keys, and I was wondering if maybe that person had seen them when they came in," he hurried to explain.

"Oh. Well, no one turned them in, but I can give Rin a call and ask him if you'd like?"

"Uh, no. That's fine."

When Mikoshiba started looking at him suspiciously he continued, "I have his number. I'll give him a call."

He didn't. Have Rin's number that is, but he also didn't want Rin to know he'd been here.

Nodding his thanks to the helpful red head, Haru headed out the door.

Only to stop, suddenly and painfully, as he collided with a shorter boy that had been rushing for the door.

Haru blinked once.

"I'm sorry!"

"It's ok," Haru replied to the grey head bowing before him.

"Nanase? Nanase, Haruka?" Nitori questioned.

"Yeah." Who was this kid again? He felt like he should know him from somewhere.

"Oh, sorry! I'm Nitori, Aiichiro." When the older boy continued to stare at him blankly, he continued. "Um, Matsuoka, Rin's roommate."

"Ah."

"Um, well, I'll let you…get going," Nitori trailed off when the other boy didn't respond. Bowing once more in apology, he hurried off to meet with his captain.

"Captain! I just wanted to remind you that I'm going home this weekend, so I'll miss tomorrow's practice. Do you want…" And on that note, the door closed behind the exuberant grey haired student.

Haru shook his head amused before continuing on his way, stopping again when metal began skidding across the tiled flooring.

* * *

**Author's note:** I had hoped to make this chapter longer, but camp went really late, and I'm soo tired. So you guys will have to wait for tomorrow. Hopefully, you'll get 2 chapters then! Also, I did say it's Haru's turn, so a Haru-centric chapter for you. See you tomorrow, and loves and hugs to you all. I think I spent most of the day at camp checking my email on my phone, so I could read your reviews as soon as they came in. Night!


	18. Chapter 18

**Note from the author: I do not own in any way, shape or form, the anime, manga or any of the characters from Free!**

* * *

It was late afternoon when a knock sounded at his door. Getting up from where he'd been lying prone in bed for most of the last couple of days, Rin opened it, and was more than a little annoyed to find his overly happy roommate on the other side.

Nitori grinned sheepishly. "Sorry!"

When the older boy merely scowled at him, he scuttled past the red head and busied himself at his desk, and he didn't breathe a sigh of relief until Rin lay back down.

"Are you feeling any better today?"

"I'm feeling fine," Rin growled.

"Ah. Yeah…Ok."

Silence. The uncomfortable kind.

"Have you been able to get any sleep?"

"What are you, my mother?" came the scathing reply from the other side of the room.

"No. Sorry. I was just worried. Sorry," Nitori responded quietly.

Great. Now he felt like he'd just kicked a puppy. While his grey headed roommate could be annoying at times, he did genuinely care for the younger boy. He was a bit like a little brother, and he knew the younger boy was legitimately concerned for him as well. But he just didn't want to talk about it.

His problems were _his._ If he couldn't sleep, well, that was his business. Even though he was exhausted, and he'd give just about anything to nod off even for just a few minutes, it didn't mean that his roommate had the right to worry about him.

Ok. Maybe he did. A little. But only because they were friends of a sort. And only because he knew the kid worried a lot anyway. And if he had to worry about something, then it _was_ better for him to worry about Rin than to worry about something pathetically stupid.

"I'll be back later," Nitori interrupted his thoughts.

"Yeah. Ok," Rin responded, easing the sting of his earlier responses.

Nitori grabbed his bag before heading for the door. Standing half in and half out, he felt brave enough to venture one more comment.

"Just try and get some sleep! Ok?" he rushed out as he hurried through the door before all but slamming it shut behind him.

Rin stared at the door for a minute before sighing heavily and curling back up on the bed.

"Stupid kid," he added under his breath, but when he finally drifted off into a light doze, there was a gentle smile on his face.

* * *

Rin shifted sleepily a short time later when the sound of keys turning in the door sounded softly through the room. He knew he should say goodnight to his roommate, but he was close enough to sleep that he didn't really want to risk it.

Thankfully, Nitori kindly solved his dilemma for him when he walked into the room almost soundlessly, closing and locking the door behind him.

When Rin heard the light scrape of the other boy's desk chair as it slid across the floor, he rolled over slightly, but otherwise left the kid to his own devices in favor of drifting off into the blissful depths of the first true rest he'd had since the day he'd stood outside Haru's house and his once peaceful world had shattered beyond redemption.

* * *

_Idiot._

This was…perfect. Turnabout was fair play after all. Rin had been in his home. Tortured and tormented him while he'd been asleep. Done things he hadn't been given the right to do.

Not that he minded too much. Now. But the other teen had had no way of knowing that, so it was only fair that he receive what he'd dished out.

And it looked like today would be the perfect day for Haru to begin his quest for retribution. And, he freely admitted to himself, revenge had never seemed like a sweeter dessert than it did just now as he sat in Rin's room watching the rise and fall of the red head's chest as he drifted deeper into his dreams.

He was patient. Sort of. So he'd wait a little longer for the other teen to drift as deeply into sleep as he might wish. Then, he'd get to play.

Sitting here, watching Rin breathe and fade into sleep, Haru could almost understand what the other boy had been thinking. That didn't necessarily mean he forgave the idiot, but he could at least understand the thought process that had preceded his actions.

_Playtime._

Standing carefully and making sure not to move the chair he'd been perched on, Haru made his way over to stand next to Rin's bed. After carefully slipping off his shoes, he sat gingerly next to the red head before slowly waving his hand in front of the sleeping teen's face.

When Rin didn't so much as stir, Haru smiled, amused, before shifting the boy enough so that he lay flat on his back, still sleeping peacefully, although his face had started to twitch into a frown as he floated a little closer to the realm of consciousness.

Carefully, Haru began undoing the buttons of the shirt the older teen had fallen asleep in. After all, he wouldn't have been a very good friend if he'd just stood by and let the boy sleep in such uncomfortable clothing.

One button. Two. Three. And on until he reached the last one. Slowly, he eased Rin's shirt apart, and after carefully studying the teen's face, ready to bolt at any indication of consciousness, Haru began.

One brush. Two. His finger slid a path across the red head's chest. Sighing gratefully when the teen's face seemed to relax and fade back into a state of peaceful serenity, he gathered up enough courage to continue.

* * *

Rin was warm. It was difficult to focus on the task he'd set for himself. He was supposed to show the other boy what it felt like. What torments he'd had visited on him while he was sleeping. But…

It was _hard._

He wanted to just lay his head against the red eyed teen's chest and listen to the beat of his heart as the older boy's warmth lulled him to sleep.

But…

He was going to do this. He'd promised himself.

So following his own thoughts, he brushed a path across Rin's chest with his fingers again before lightly running one finger in a circular path around the boy's nipple. Circling closer, but never quite touching, before eventually, lowering his head to complete the path his finger had refused to end.

Rin groaned softly, shifting.

At the soft motion, Haru jerked, but when his rival made no motions to do anything more, he continued following his circular path before veering off and flicking his tongue lightly over his original goal.

When Rin groaned again, Haru smiled lightly, pleased.

Because he was trying to shift his weight so that he could straddle the sleeping teen without waking him, Haru had to relinquish his prize in favor of another.

And one in particular caught his eye.

* * *

Rin groaned again. _This damn kid._ He finally got to sleep, and the stupid brat was here.

He was in so much trouble. He couldn't even sleep without Haru invading his dreams. This was not fair. He was suffering, and the raven haired boy was likely blissfully unaware of all the pain he'd caused and was still causing.

And the stupid boy would not stop giving him a damn hickey.

Because he was doing it again. The obnoxious teen above him, whom Rin didn't find to be very realistic because the azure eyed teen wasn't likely to take this kind of initiative for anything that wasn't water, had once again latched onto his neck.

He wanted Haru. The real one. Not this fantasy that had turned up out of nowhere. If he was going to suffer this in his dreams, then at the very least, it'd better be realistic.

The teen released his neck and his tongue began tracing wet, watery paths down his torso while his hands roamed freely, flitting here and there.

This was all well and good, but this was his dream, and even though he knew this was not going to help matters when he woke up, he wanted the comfort the other teen could offer.

Carefully, so he wouldn't jolt the other boy, he raised one hand to grasp the other teen's face, pulling him from his journey downward, while simultaneously sliding his other arm around the azure eyed boy's waist.

That done, he rolled so that the other teen was splayed out beneath him before pressing one chaste kiss to the boy's forehead and then drawing him back into the safety of his arms.

* * *

This was not _fair._

He was supposed to be in charge. And he had been. For about five minutes.

And now here he was, his back pressed to Rin's chest, and the feel of Rin's lips still burning a distinctive shape into his forehead even as the red haired teen's breathe ghosted disturbingly against his ear.

Struggling a little, Haru attempted to extricate himself, but when Rin merely tightened his sleepy hold, he decided to give in gracefully.

He could still get his revenge. Later.

Sighing softly, Haru shifted just enough, so when he finally drifted off to sleep, it was to the lulling beat of Rin's heart.

* * *

**Author's note:** Hope you liked it!

I noticed I got a lot of new people to review my story now, so I just wanted to say thank you! Also, I appreciate how much everyone has been supportive of my story. It keeps me entertained, and thank you guys for being understanding about me missing a few updates! Also, my roommate and I were discussing how entertaining it was that only in fanfic is I hate you actually a compliment. :D

JapanesePanda: *Carefully takes needle and patches Panda up* Better now?

Brojaxeh: I'm really trying to keep to the update schedule I set because I know a lot of people are waiting to see where I go with this next. Thanks for your lovely review!


	19. Chapter 19

**Note from the author: I do not own in any way, shape or form, the anime, manga or any of the characters from Free!**

* * *

_Water._

Life was perfect. He had everything he wanted, and it was all in one place.

Haru smiled.

* * *

Rin stirred as the morning sunlight poured through his window to splash swaying patterns across his body.

_Haru._

He stayed as he was for a few moments, tangled in his sheets and still in yesterday's clothes. Practice would start soon. Sighing softly, Rin rolled out of bed, quickly stripping before throwing on his swimsuit and a layer of clothes.

"Nitori, hurry up. You're going to be late for practice," he called to the closed bathroom door where he heard the shower running before grabbing his keys and disappearing out the door.

* * *

Haru smiled when he heard the door slam shut.

_Water._

And…

_Rin._

* * *

Rin frowned. Practice was over, and Nitori had never come down.

As quickly as he could without actually running, he made his way back to his room, and with a quick turn of his key, let himself inside.

The first thing he noticed was that the shower was still running.

Now he was really worried.

He walked quickly to the bathroom door and knocked.

Once.

Twice.

"Nitori?"

No answer.

"Nitori? Are you ok?"

Nothing.

"Nitori, I'm coming in," Rin called out before opening the door and peeking inside. When his grey haired roommate still remained out of sight, he opened the door the rest of the way and walked inside.

When Nitori still didn't make an appearance, he strode towards the shower and swept the curtain aside and found…nothing.

Cursing soundly, Rin shut the water off. The stupid kid had made him worry for no reason. He was probably out somewhere having fun and had no idea how badly he'd scared his red eyed roommate.

Turning to go back to the main room, Rin stopped when one of his shoes slid across the floor through a puddle of water.

If the obnoxious little brat was going to take a shower, he should at least dry off appropriately before he started trekking water through the room.

Annoyed, Rin stomped back towards his dresser to go fish out a towel. After digging around through the drawers for a minute, he finally found one. Grabbing it, he turned around to go clean up his soon to be dead roommate's mess before stopping abruptly.

* * *

Haru watched the emotions that flashed across his rival's face. He'd thought about leaving before Rin got back but had ultimately decided against it.

Besides, why put things off until later?

* * *

_Haru._

He was dreaming. That had to be it. Because why else would Haru be sitting here? In his room. On his bed. Dressed in only a swimsuit. And dripping wet.

"It's not polite to stare," Haru told him after a few minutes.

Rin opened his mouth to say…something, but what, he wasn't sure because nothing ever came out.

Sighing, the raven haired teen finally gave up on the red headed boy and stood. His bare feet carried him silently across the room until he stood in front of the dumbfounded teen.

"Rin?"

He should respond. He knew he should, but he couldn't.

He was frozen. Shocked. Astonished. _Afraid._

Why was Haru here? Was he here? Or had he just fallen asleep, and this was just another dream starring the object of his affection?

"Rin."

When Haru spoke again, Rin focused on the azure eyed boy once more only to find that while he'd been frozen in shock, the other teen had gotten rather close.

Hastily, he took a step back, and when Haru advanced, he took another.

* * *

Sighing softly, Haru stopped.

Rin had his back to the wall, and while now would be the perfect time to teach his rival a lesson, the terror that he could see in Rin's expressive red eyes was causing the azure eyed teen to feel that burning, wrenching sensation in the middle of his chest again.

* * *

Rin watched, heart racing, as Haru seemed to wilt in front of him before he slowly and carefully began backing away until the raven haired teen finally turned and resumed his spot perching on the edge of Rin's bed.

Feeling slightly more able to face the situation now that Haru was on the other side of the room, Rin walked forward a few steps before pulling out his desk chair and gratefully sinking into it.

And they stayed there. Staring at each other. Neither saying a word.

Eventually, Haru sighed, resigned, before scooting back further onto the bed and laying down, his head on Rin's pillow.

And still, Rin couldn't move. He just sat there. Only a few feet from the boy that kept ripping him apart.

_Haru._

* * *

Staying like this wasn't as nice as it had been last night when Rin had lain beside him, but it worked.

He was waiting for Rin to say something. To ask why he was there or how. To ask anything really. Because he wasn't going to explain. Not until Rin asked. Maybe not even then. Because Rin had never explained anything to him.

_He'd_ had to figure it out himself.

So Rin could too. In a way, this way his revenge. He'd determined sometime this morning while he'd been in the shower with the cool water blissfully pounding the tension from his muscles that he wouldn't be able to do to Rin what the red headed teen had done to him.

He couldn't stay focused enough. When he'd woken up in Rin's arms this morning, his thoughts had been of how nice it was and not how he should make the teen suffer. He just wasn't good at focusing on things like that.

But silence? Silence he could do. And because the red haired boy was so guilty over all he'd done, Haru knew he was going to have a hard time breaking that silence. And he'd have to. Without help. Because Haru was not going to give in first.

After all, silence didn't bother him. And he was fine with however long it would take. Because he had all he needed right here.

* * *

**Author's Note:** I'm only slightly a tiny bit evil. A teeny tiny bit. It took me a little bit to figure out how I wanted this chapter to go, so sorry for the late update. Hope you guys like it, and I'm hoping it's at least a little bit of a twist from what you were expecting.

Stella: Your compliment made me smile so much. And no, I've never heard of freetweets before. Tell me more about it?

KaZe: I love you. I think every time I post, I wait up just to hear what you're going to say.

JapanesePanda: I'm keeping your last review in my email because when I am feeling down, it makes me smile.

Loves and hugs to everyone! Thanks to all my reviewers, followers, and favoriters (is that a word?) !


	20. Chapter 20

**Note from the author: I do not own in any way, shape or form, the anime, manga or any of the characters from Free!**

* * *

The silence was deafening.

He kept opening his mouth, but nothing ever came out. Perhaps it was because his thoughts were racing so fast that his brain could never connect an actual thought to put forth into actual speech. Or perhaps he'd suddenly lost all ability to speak.

Either way, he was left trapped in soundless eternity with the most devastating force of destructive capability he'd ever encountered.

_Haru._

* * *

It was almost amusing how stunned the other teen was. Haru lay curled up on the boy's bed wrapped in the slightly damp blankets and sinking blissfully into the cushion of the teen's pillow.

Entertaining as the silence was, he was also getting tired of it. Rin needed to _do_ something. And if he didn't hurry up about it, Haru was going to have to force the issue. Because he was not a patient person. No, not at all.

* * *

Rin didn't so much as twitch until he saw the azure eyed boy sigh before snuggling deeper into his covers and sinking into sleep.

When it appeared that Haru was actually out for the count, he sighed loudly, the tension draining from his body.

What the hell was happening here? How had Haru gotten here? Why was he here? And the best question of all and the one Rin most wanted the answer to…

How was he supposed to get rid of him?

When no easy answered seemed forthcoming, Rin stood before walking softly towards the other boy until he stood next to the sleeping teen.

This hurt. Having Haru here. Having him so close that he could touch him.

And with that thought, his hands moved of their own accord to brush the still dripping raven locks away from the teen's closed eyes.

Even though he knew these feelings were what had gotten him into this mess in the first place, he couldn't stop the impulse that let his fingers brush against tanned skin for far longer than was necessary. And with his luck lately, it really shouldn't have been all that surprising when his relatively innocent intentions blew up in his face.

* * *

Haru fought to keep the satisfied smile from etching itself across his face. Maybe…Maybe Rin would pay after all.

* * *

He was too stunned to move, and even if he could have, he wasn't entirely sure that he'd have been able to dislodge the teen that had somehow managed to roll him into bed and underneath him before he'd even had time to process the fact that he was no longer on his feet.

"Would you like to talk now?" Haru asked.

Rin just stared. He couldn't move. His body was completely frozen, every muscle locked in place.

"No?" The curiously bored tone was almost terrifying. There was something about it that said it was the answer the other teen had wanted.

"That's fine then. We can just stay here until you feel ready to talk," Haru continued conversationally.

Rin shuddered when one of Haru's hands pushed beneath the edge of his shirt.

Staring into the raven haired teen's eyes filled with the peaceful serenity of one who has all the time in the world, Rin realized he would have to find his voice soon, or he was going to _die_.

* * *

Haru smiled as his fingers traced the toned muscles of Rin's stomach beneath his shirt. This was more fun than yesterday. In a way, watching the emotions run their marathon across his red eyed rival's face was more interesting than anything else.

When Rin remained silent and, from all appearances, confused beyond belief, Haru decided the other teen would need further incentive to start expressing his thoughts.

Which was how, shortly thereafter, Rin found himself without a shirt.

* * *

How had he gotten here again?

He tried to backtrack in his mind to figure out how any of this had happened, and he was drawing a blank. No matter what he thought up, he was pretty sure none of it led to this.

That's it. He had to be dreaming.

Scratch that. He wasn't dreaming. Because there was no way he'd ever dream up such an evil version of Haru.

Rin gasped. _Damn kid._ He needed to stop touching him.

* * *

Haru's tongue followed the same paths as his fingers, licking and soothing the shifting muscles beneath the tanned skin.

Rin still wasn't paying attention to him, and it was really, really annoying. Deciding the temperamental teen could use some further encouragement to focus on his priorities, Haru applied himself to accomplishing the next task on his list.

* * *

He was dying. He was absolutely sure of it. His application for sainthood was never getting through. He'd never live long enough.

And he was having those thoughts before he felt Haru's hand on the buttons at his waist.

_Shit._

* * *

When Rin started squirming in protest, Haru pinned him more precisely in place, which was remarkably easy as all he had to do was move a little closer until the red eyed teen ceased moving.

Now that the red headed boy was cooperating, sort of, it was only a matter of seconds before he was able to work the teen's pants down until he was left clad in only his swimsuit.

* * *

His mind was shutting down. That's all there was to it. Because…because this wasn't actually happening.

He was still dressed. In a shirt. And pants. He had to be.

It wasn't until the azure eyed teen's hand came to rest against his hip, skin on skin, that Rin gave up trying to reason things out.

So he did what any rational person would do when faced with a completely irrational and logic defying series of circumstances.

He bolted.

* * *

When the door slammed shut, Haru huffed and then rolled to get more comfortable on the bed.

_Stupid Rin._

He should be mad. After all, Rin still hadn't said a single thing to him, and he had a lot of explaining to do. But, he was patient. Sort of. Sometimes. When he felt like it.

If he were being truthful, none of the reasons for his continuing good mood had anything to do with his patience levels. It was more that he was amused. Why? Because...

One.

His idiotic love interest was running around outside in only a swimsuit.

Two.

Eventually, Rin would realize that he'd run out of his own room.

Three.

Sooner or later, the red haired teen would have to come back.

And four.

Haru would be waiting for him.

* * *

**Author's Note:** Sooo…I think I'm prolly going to have to switch to 1 update per day except on weekends. Now that camp is over, I have to go back to working an internship, so I'm gone most of the morning now.

Anyhow, hope you guys like it. I know I'm kind of teasing y'all. ^.^

Also, random question. What is your favorite conversation, quote or paragraph from the story so far? Not the entire chapter, btw...


	21. Chapter 21

**Note from the author: I do not own in any way, shape or form, the anime, manga or any of the characters from Free!**

* * *

This was so screwed up.

_Haru._

How did he get here again?

_Haru._

He'd spent the better part of the last six hours or so sitting in the middle of campus trying to explain away the fact that he was literally dressed in only his swimsuit. Why?

Because he was an idiot.

At the very least, he should have put some damn shoes on. Then he could have at least gone somewhere else, but no, what did he do? He ran away. Like a stupid chicken.

_Haru._

And it was all Haru's damn fault. Because he was trying to get over the raven haired teen, and the idiot just had to show up. In his bedroom.

And as if that wasn't enough, the same aforementioned boy just had to make his life unmanageable. How? By crawling in bed with him.

And to top it all off, the azure eyed teen was also the cause of his current dilemma. That is to say, he was the reason Rin was hesitating outside his _own_ door. Like a little girl. Scared to go in because he was afraid of what monster might pop out of the closet.

_Haru._

Sighing heavily, he finally gave up and knocked on the door. His door. Why was he knocking? Because. Because he'd run away like an idiot. Without his shoes. And more importantly, without his _keys._

_Damn Haru._

He wasn't surprised when Haru answered the door. Not really at least.

"Welcome home," Haru said, annoyed, as he ushered the red haired teen into his room.

* * *

Six hours? Really? The idiot stayed outside in only a swimsuit for six freaking hours. Just to avoid him.

_Screw it._

* * *

Rin jumped when Haru turned abruptly away from him.

"I'm glad you came back. I was beginning to wonder if I'd just need to leave your keys with the dorm manager."

_Huh?_

When Rin didn't reply, Haru continued, "I'm going home. See you around."

And that said, Haru left.

_What. The. Hell._

* * *

Haru was more than a little discouraged as he walked down the hallway of Rin's dorm. Unlike Rin, he'd taken the time to actually get dressed.

Of course, he'd waited about four hours into Rin's self imposed exile to do it, still under the idiotic assumption that Rin was coming back, but as the clock ticked away the minutes, he'd eventually given in and given up.

Apparently, his rival had merely been playing with him, or maybe he'd gotten it wrong somehow. Either way, it didn't matter.

He was going home. _Alone._

* * *

_That damn kid._

He left. He just left. After spending most of the day in _his_ room, that stupid, annoying, irritating kid just left. Him. Here. Alone. In _his_ room. His room that had been his one sanctuary free of any memories of Haru. And now it wasn't. And Haru was gone.

_Oh. Hell. No._

* * *

Haru wasn't really paying attention to where he was going as he walked outside. The sidewalk was rather interesting today, although, he never really saw it.

He was frustrated. And angry. And…_hurt._

His chest hurt. It felt tight like someone had wrapped a vice around something vital right there in the center and had then started squeezing for all they were worth. And now, he had that pain that always seemed to come when he thought about Rin. Or water. Or more correctly, the absence of either.

And it hurt. And it wasn't fair. He'd tried. He'd really tried. But he was done. Because he didn't want to hurt like this anymore. He didn't want to feel like a puppy waiting by the door all day for its master to come home only to find that when he does, he'll be brushed off like a worthless possession of no consequence.

He was never going to do this again.

Haru blinked back the frustrating watery feeling in his eyes. This one time, he did _not_ want any water.

He'd have left earlier, but a part of him had still believed that Rin would come back. That hope had been easy enough to maintain for the first hour and then even for the second.

At the third, it had started to fade.

At the fourth, he'd decided he'd better get dressed.

At the fifth, he'd thought about leaving, but the knowledge that the red headed moron had left his keys had made him stay.

After the sixth hour, Haru was about ready to say screw the keys. And screw Rin. In the not good way.

And then not long after that, the devil himself knocked on the door. Driven inside not because of some aching desire to see him nor because he wanted to talk. No, he'd come back. But only because it was getting dark.

Looking into the fading rays of light that still hovered on the edge of the horizon, Haru, for the first time in his life, understood that this was what it meant to be normal. This was what happened to normal people. People who cared about normal things. Who did normal things.

Now, he didn't want to be normal. He didn't want normal things. He didn't want to _feel_ normal things. All he wanted was…

_Water._

* * *

Haru looked like he wanted to _cry_.

The moment that registered, Rin froze again. This whole acting like a popsicle business was getting annoying. He was not a little kid. He should be able to do things when he wanted to do them. He should be able to walk the twenty steps or so that separated him from the azure eyed teen that was standing in the middle of the sidewalk.

And because he should be able to do it, he did.

* * *

Haru jumped, startled, when a pair of arms slid around his waist and drew him back to lean against a hard, chiseled chest.

He wiggled and squirmed, but no matter what he did, he couldn't get loose enough to turn around to see who it was.

But it didn't matter. He already knew.

_Rin._

* * *

"You're an idiot."

Well. What a way to start. That had not been what he'd intended to say.

* * *

Rin finally spoke.

He thought he'd be glad, but he wasn't. He burned. Deep inside. The vice in his chest tightened impossibly, and even though he fought it, he couldn't help it when the salty water slid from his ocean blue eyes.

* * *

_Shit._

"That's not what I meant," Rin backtracked hastily, suddenly panicked by the sight of Haru's tears.

"I know what you meant," Haru shot back, jerking angrily trying to shake the other teen off.

"No," Rin bit out, "You don't."

"Yeah? Then what did you mean?" Haru asked finally escaping Rin's hold before turning around to glare angrily at his red eyed rival.

"I…I…"

"Yeah that's what I thought," Haru muttered before turning.

* * *

He was leaving. He didn't have to sit here and take this. So he turned away. For good. _Forever._

Only…he kept turning. And turning. And turning.

Right into Rin's arms.

His eyes widened.

Rin was…

Rin was..

Rin was.

_Kissing him._

* * *

**Author's note:** Rin still has a way to go on his communication skills, but I felt like I'd tormented you guys enough. Besides. It was about time for their first kiss, no?

Hope you guys liked it! But don't get too comfy, there will still be a couple of rough patches on the road ahead.

Loves you!

Sorry for the late update again!

And also, just so you know, I finally remembered that the second genre I had listed for this thing was humor, and while the story was originally supposed to be humorous, I think it's probably morphed into something else, so anyone want to weigh in their opinion on what I should change it to?

AngelicPhantomcrow: Sorry I forgot to respond in the last chapter. XD I gave a hint to where Nitori was about 2 chapters ago I think, but I'll come out straight and say it within the next chapter or so.

And I'm glad so many of you seemed to like the last chapter. It's really hard to keep Haru from going out of character. I really want to make Haru evil and sexy, but I can't picture him staying that way for long periods of time. So Haru is now back to normal, and so is Rin. Sort of. Tune in next time for the next dramatic happening on Simply Touching. Rofl. I feel like a TV announcer. :P


	22. Chapter 22

**Note from the author: I do not own in any way, shape or form, the anime, manga or any of the characters from Free!**

* * *

There are moments in life where nothing makes sense. Where no matter how fast you think, you can't seem to actually put together enough pieces of a thought to do anything. Where nothing seems right, and everything seems wrong.

Like now.

Haru wasn't sure how he'd gotten to this point, and now that he was here, he wasn't sure what to do.

Rin was _kissing_ him.

But…but…he didn't know why. He didn't know anything anymore. Not why Rin was here. Not why he'd been angry before. Nor why he'd been so…hesitant. He didn't know what to do. With himself. With Rin. With his hands that were hovering in the air, unsure of whether they should settle on his rival's shoulders or…or do…something else.

He just didn't know.

In movies, you always know what feelings lay behind someone else's actions. You're always sure that you know what everyone is feeling. But when it's you, it's not that easy.

Because…

Because if you're wrong…

_It hurts._

* * *

Rin finally pulled away from the azure eyed boy, smiling sadly at the teen's stricken face.

"I'm sorry," he said, brushing the back of his fingers across Haru's cheek to catch a falling tear.

"For what?"

"For everything."

* * *

Haru's eyes widened.

"Everything," he muttered bitterly, "And exactly what does everything entail?"

When Rin merely looked confused, Haru lost it.

"So you're sorry for what exactly? For kissing me? For leaving me alone in your room for six freaking hours? For running away? For lying to me? For...," His voice caught, and he trailed off before finishing, "For touching me?"

Silence was his only answer.

* * *

For someone as calm as Haru normally was, the raven haired teen was giving him emotional whiplash. He could not seem to follow this kid's train of thought.

How could one simple statement go so wrong? All he'd intended to apologize for was for upsetting the other teen. For running away. And now Haru had gone right out and lain all of _Rin's_ cards on the table while still holding his own close to his chest.

Stepping closer, Rin brought his hands up to rest gently on Haru's shoulders before the other teen violently shook him off, once again turning to leave.

_Like hell._

* * *

He was leaving. For good this time.

And then he wasn't.

Why?

Because Rin spun him around. Again. Only this time, the red haired teen was holding him by the shirt collar and was shaking him rather vigorously.

"We are going to talk," Rin bit out through clenched teeth.

"Talk then," Haru growled back.

"Let's go."

* * *

And with those words, Haru found himself being dragged back in the direction of Rin's room.

"No!"

He wasn't going back there. Not with Rin. Not alone. And certainly not to talk. Not after he'd spent six hours waiting for someone who never came.

Rin stopped, one hand still fisted in his shirt.

"Let me rephrase this so it's a little more understandable for you, Haru," Rin smiled at him grimly, "We're going back to my room, and we are going to talk."

"I'd rather talk here," Haru responded obstinately.

Now that he thought about, he would really rather not do that either. Unfortunately, it seemed like Rin knew exactly what he was thinking. Almost as soon as the thought of running away crossed his mind, he found himself pressed back against the closest surface, the outside wall of the building, and then Rin was kissing him. Again.

Only, this wasn't the same kind of kiss. The one before had been…gentle. This one was _angry_. Rin dominated his mouth. Took whatever he wanted and only gave back what he felt like giving. And it lasted forever. At least it felt like it.

This was like…

_Water._

His lungs burned. He needed air, but Rin wasn't letting him up.

_He was drowning._

* * *

Rin finally, reluctantly, pulled back from the azure eyed teen when he realized the boy wasn't breathing. It was amusing to say the least that the normally composed teen was panting for air like a dying man and all because of a kiss.

He'd have to do it more often.

Now that Haru was no longer in any state to complain, Rin proceeded to drag the wild eyed boy back up the hallway and, after a quick turn of his key, into his room, shutting the door firmly and finally behind them.

* * *

_Trapped._

He felt like a rabbit after the hounds have been set loose for the hunt. Only he only had one hound, and it had already found him.

Scratch that. It hadn't had to find him because it had already known where he lived.

* * *

_Poor Haru._

The poor kid looked terrified, like a wild horse that had just found it was no longer free to run as it wished. And he wasn't free. Not anymore.

Because, now, he belonged to Rin. But, he was nice, so he'd break that little fact to the azure eyed teen gently. Very gently. Considering the other teen looked like he was about ready to bolt out the window if necessary, he might even make that very, very, very gently.

* * *

"Haru."

When Rin started walking towards him, self preservation sent him backwards.

One step. Two. One more and then another.

And then there was nowhere left to go.

"Haru, it's alright," Rin said, his hands coming up to rest against the wall.

His heart was beating hard in his chest. He could feel his head pounding to the same tune, and he'd never wanted to be anywhere else more in his life than he did at that moment in time.

A warm hand came up to cup his chin before sliding along his cheek over the tracks his tears had left along his face.

"Haru."

Haru looked everywhere but at Rin.

"I'm only going to say this once, so you'd better listen to me."

The ceiling was very interesting. A lovely shade of white. Err…gray?

"I love you."

It was a really, really lovely shade of gray though.

"Are you listening to me?"

It was dark outside too, now.

"Haru?"

Really dark. He hadn't intended to be here this long.

"Haru," Rin growled.

Haru's gaze flickered to Rin, but he couldn't force his eyes to meet the other teen's, so all he saw was the dark flash of red before his eyes drifted past to land on something safer.

The door. Another lovely shade of grayish white. A color which could only have been improved if he were viewing it from the other side. Preferably without Rin.

And before he could even comprehend what was happening, he was dragged forward then pushed backward only to find himself laying half in and half out of Rin's bed.

_Huh?_

Blinking several times, Haru finally focused on his main problem. The one he'd been trying to avoid, which judging by the rather furious expression on his rival's face may not have been the best idea he'd ever had.

"Rin?" He asked confused before struggling to regain his footing to at least sit up.

Rin didn't answer him. Instead the red haired teen just glared at him for a few seconds before pulling him into a sitting position then kneeling in front of him and setting his fingers to the task of undoing the buttons of Haru's shirt.

When he attempted to still the angry teen's hands with his own, the other boy swatted at him as though he were a pesky fly.

And then his shirt was gone. And he was falling. Why? Because apparently, Rin wanted him lying down, still half in and half out of the bed.

And then the other teen's hands were at his waistband, and with the help of Rin's apparently rather talented hands, he was left in only his swimsuit.

With one last agitated motion, Haru was rather forcefully shifted so that he was lying completely on the bed before Rin walked across the room and shut off the lights.

The dull thud of his rival's bare feet sounded across the floor alerting him to the other boy's movements until Rin slid into bed, turning him so that Haru had no choice but to look into his furious red eyes.

"Haru."

Haru gulped, "Yeah?"

"I love you, but we're tired, so we're going to sleep. We'll talk about this in the morning."

Haru blinked. And again.

_What?_

He wanted to ask, but Rin's forbidding glare kept him from putting to voice any of the thoughts in his head. Rin was right. Tomorrow was soon enough. He _was_ tired. It'd been a long day, and even though his mind wanted to dwell on what was happening, his body was already shutting down.

With one last wistful sigh, his eyes shut.

* * *

When Haru didn't stir, Rin moved closer, wrapping one arm around the teen's waist and sending his other to toy with the raven black strands lying splayed across his pillow.

He was still smiling when he drifted off to sleep.

* * *

**Author's note:** Sorry for the late update again! I couldn't for the life of me figure out how I wanted these guys to proceed.

Btw, it came to my attention recently that some people don't want this story to end soon. I had only planned to make it about 30 chapters, so that's just a few more days. If there's enough interest, I may consider extending it, so let me know what you think!

Thanks again to all my reviewers! I hope this fluffiness made it worth the wait!


	23. Chapter 23

**Note from the author: I do not own in any way, shape or form, the anime, manga or any of the characters from Free!**

* * *

This was more than a little uncomfortable. Not because he wasn't comfy per se, so much as he wasn't sure he should be in this situation to begin with.

And what was this situation? Rin. And him. Together. In bed. Cuddling.

Well, sort of cuddling. Because cuddling was this kind of mutual thing where you take comfort in the other person's presence or something like that. Not that he'd really know because he'd never cuddled with anyone before.

But…

He was still pretty sure that this wasn't exactly cuddling. Why? Because he wasn't taking much comfort from this. And because, well, because Rin wasn't exactly holding onto him like he was taking comfort in his presence so much as it seemed like he was holding onto him because if he loosened his grip even slightly then Haru would up and disappear on him.

Which, if Rin would kindly let him go, is exactly what he planned to do.

But he couldn't. Because no matter how much he squirmed, the grip around his body only seemed to tighten all the more. Rin was like a snake. One of those jungle ones that wrap around your body and then tighten until the life is squeezed right out of you.

It seemed like a pretty accurate description considering how tightly he was wrapped in his rival's arms as they pressed him close to Rin's warm body, his legs tangled with the red headed teen's somewhere beneath the thin sheets.

"Haru, you wouldn't be trying to get away now would you?"

Haru gulped.

_Whoops._

* * *

"Uh…"

"Because that wouldn't be a very nice thing to do," Rin pointed out, pulling the raven haired teen closer.

When Haru decided not to answer, Rin rolled the azure eyed boy under him so that his body was pressing the teen into the mattress.

* * *

And this was why he was pretty sure he shouldn't be here. So why was he here again?

Oh, yes. Because he was brilliant. And he had a brilliant idea. Let's go play with Rin. Brilliant move, Haru. Wonderful strategy. Absolutely, positively, freaking brilliant.

He was screwed.

* * *

"Water?" Haru whispered.

Sighing, Rin let the other boy up to grab the teen a bottle of water from his mini fridge.

The soft sound of skin against the flooring echoed in his ear, and he was more than a little annoyed to turn around to find the water loving idiot had disappeared into the bathroom. The soothing patter of the shower's spray on tile sounded seconds later.

Ah. That kind of water.

He took a quick drink from the bottle that hadn't, apparently, been needed after all before wandering over to the bathroom door. It was not the most surprising thing in the world to find that Haru had forgotten to lock the door.

_Oh, Haru. You idiot._

* * *

He'd escaped. He knew he would have to face Rin eventually, but that wasn't now. And why do right now what you can put off until later? Much later. Like never.

_I love you._

What did that mean? Well, he knew what it meant, but…but…

Rin hated him. Maybe. And they were both guys. Not so maybe, but still a technical difficulty. And it was Rin…Which was a problem by itself. And Rin had feelings for him. Maybe. Or he was playing with him. At which point Haru definitely had feelings for Rin. Like anger, for instance.

But if his red eyed rival was serious, then they had different problems. Starting with…

_I love you._

Rin had said it like it was the most natural thing in the world. But it wasn't. Not to him. And while he was relatively sure that he liked Rin…as more than just a friend, he was also pretty sure he didn't love the other boy. And he didn't want to hurt him.

This was confusing. And it was way too early in the morning for these kinds of thoughts. Because he had a policy to never confuse himself before breakfast. Which came after water.

_I love you._

Why wouldn't it go away? He just wanted to sit here. Without that…thought…running through his mind. It wasn't fair.

"Stupid Rin," Haru muttered to himself.

"What was that, Haru?"

Haru jerked, slamming back into a finely chiseled chest just before two strong arms wrapped themselves around his torso.

* * *

"Was there something you wanted to say?" Rin asked the teen that was doing his best impression of a gaping fish while he remained trapped in the circle of his arms.

"Uh," Haru gulped, courage gone, "N…no."

"Oh, well, that's good isn't it?"

More silence. Apparently, this was going to be a thing with them.

"Haru," Rin whispered against the raven haired teen's hair, "We need to talk about this."

"Do we have to?"

"Don't you want to?"

"I don't know."

The child-like whine in the other teen's voice made him smile sadly. He'd hurt Haru, and he'd give anything to undo that. Well, almost anything. Because he wasn't going to give the teen more silence. They'd had enough of that, and if Haruka was anything like him, then the uncertainty was killing him.

"I love you. You know that, right?"

"Yeah."

It would have been too easy for him to say it back.

"Haru."

More silence.

Rin leaned back against the cool tile of the shower wall, pulling the azure eyed boy with him, before resting his head on the tanned shoulder in front of him.

"We can't avoid this forever, Haru."

"I don't know. You were doing a pretty good job of it yesterday," Haru snapped at him.

"I know. I'm sorry."

"You said that yesterday," Haru muttered.

"I meant it yesterday too."

"Go away, Rin. I don't want to talk to you."

"Haru."

* * *

"I said go away," Haru bit out, trying to shake the other teen off.

Unfortunately, given that Rin's present position was pretty much forcing him to lean against the other teen, which meant he wasn't exactly standing upright, he only ended up sending them both crashing to the floor as his feet slid out from under him.

Rin sighed against his ear before drawing him back to sit tucked between his thighs. Haru's face burned with embarrassment, and he was thankful that both of them were at least partially clothed, otherwise, this would have been way more awkward than it already was.

He struggled for a few more moments before gracelessly giving in.

* * *

"Talk."

Ok. So Haru wasn't going to make this easy. He'd wanted to talk, but now he wasn't exactly sure what to say. If they ever actually got to the part where they were officially having a relationship, he could tell that communication was going to be a big problem.

"Umm…"

"You wanted to talk, so spit it out."

Yep. He really wasn't going to make this easy.

"I Love you?"

"You said that already."

"Uh, yeah. So…" Rin trailed off. This was really _hard._

"So?"

"Go out with me?" There. He'd said it.

"Out where? You seemed really adamant last night that you wanted to stay here."

Seriously. He was twitching. He was sure of it. This kid.

"Not out like that. I mean…you know. Out. With me."

* * *

Oh, yeah. Because that totally made way more sense.

"Where exactly is it that you want to go?" Haru sighed giving up. Screw it. He just wanted this to be over.

* * *

"Haru," Rin paused frustrated. How did Haru get to be this age without having any idea what he was talking about? Unless the azure eyed idiot was just being obnoxious for the hell of it.

* * *

When Rin pulled his chin so that he had no choice but to face the tanned teen behind him, he glared at him, confusion swirling in the azure depths of his eyes.

* * *

Ok, so he wasn't playing with him. Haru wasn't that good of an actor. Which meant he had no idea what Rin was talking about.

This was going to take a while. Or…

Application for sainthood in one hand. Lighter in the other.

_Screw it._

The little devil on his shoulder danced with glee as the charred remnants of that all important document fell to the floor.

* * *

Haru suddenly found himself dragged up and pinned against the wall. And Rin was there. Right in front of him and way too close.

This…

Did not look good.

* * *

Smirking at the confused, hesitant expression on his water loving counterpart's face, Rin leaned close so that the only thing standing between him and the older boy were the splattering drops raining from the shower-head and a breath of air.

"Haru," Rin started, displaying his toothiest grin.

* * *

Haru gulped. This looked really not good.

He wanted to run. Anywhere. Just as long as it wasn't here.

* * *

"I want to go out with you. On dates. As your boyfriend," Rin continued conversationally.

When Haru remained frozen and wide eyed, he decided to carry on.

"I want to have the right to kiss you."

He planted a chaste kiss on the popsicle-like boy's lips.

"To hold you."

His arms wrapped themselves around the other boy's rigid frame.

"To touch you."

His fingers toyed with the edge of Haru's swimsuit before dipping beneath the hem.

"To taste you."

He set his mouth to Haru's neck then pulled away.

"To love you."

Another kiss. This one deeper.

Rin pulled away again, amused by the wild eyed expression of the teen in his arms.

"Do you understand what I'm trying to say?"

* * *

At this point, Haru could only nod. He wasn't sure exactly what he was agreeing too, but it didn't really seem like this was something he was supposed to deny.

So he didn't.

"Good." Rin sounded smug. Too smug.

"One more thing, Haru."

He waited. What else could there possibly be? He was pretty sure Rin pretty much asked for everything just then. Any more and he may as well just hand himself over and say do whatever you want.

Although, Rin would probably like that.

"What?" He finally managed to whisper out.

"You can't see Makoto anymore."

Haru blinked. Whatever he'd expected, it hadn't been that.

Mokoto was…his friend. He was always there for him. He lived just down the stairs from him. He sat next to him in class. He swam with him. Took care of him when he was sick. Except that one time. He went grocery shopping with him. He woke him up in the morning, or more specifically, he pulled him out of the bath.

Makoto was…his best friend. He couldn't, wouldn't, just drop out of his life. If for no other reason, Mako didn't deserve that. Moreover, Rin didn't have the right to ask that of him. Ever. At all. For any reason.

_It wasn't fair._

* * *

"No."

The cold refusal had not been what he'd been expecting. Thinking about it, he wasn't really sure what he'd been expecting, but that hadn't been it.

It wasn't like it was an unreasonable request. If you were dating someone, you should be dating them. And only them. At least that's how he felt about the situation, but apparently, Haru didn't see it that way.

"I don't care if I do like you. Mako is my best friend. You don't have the right to say that to me," Haru growled at him angrily, his eyes a stormy haze of azure fury.

"But…" He was interrupted.

* * *

"He's always there for me. He takes care of me when I'm sick, and he makes sure I get to school in the morning."

Rin was in so much trouble. How_ dare_ he.

"He eats with me sometimes, so I'm not always alone, and we go swimming together all the time."

Makoto was his _best friend_. The phrase 'I see red' suddenly made a lot of sense.

"And even if I wanted to, I couldn't stop seeing him. We live next to each other, and we sit next to each other in class."

Red. Red hair. Red eyes. Blue eyes red with fury. It was all the same.

"And besides all of that, you just don't have the _right_ to ask me that, and you never will!" Haru bit out before pushing his red headed rival away from him and storming out of the shower, trekking water across the floor in his wake.

* * *

What. The. Hell?

Rin turned off the water quickly and sped out of the room after Haru only to come to a complete stop at the sight of his azure eyed idiotic sort of boyfriend frozen in his tracks in front of his grey haired roommate.

"Uh, I can…come back later?" Nitori stuttered out.

"No. I was just leaving," Haru finally responded grabbing his clothes and jerking them on.

Nitori and Rin both stood frozen, watching as the other boy stormed out of the room.

"Your keys are on the desk. You dropped them when we ran into each other at the pool on Friday," Haru muttered to the younger teen before closing the door behind him.

* * *

_Well shit._

"Sorry," Nitori whispered sheepishly.

He could deal with the elephant in the room, mainly the fact that he and another teenage boy had just walked out of a shower together, or he could get mad.

Now which one of those was the more appealing option?

"Where the hell have you been?"

"Home," Nitori responded backing away, hands raised in a placating manner. "I went home remember. For the weekend. I told you about it before I left."

He had. Rin vaguely remembered that now. Very vaguely, but still.

Choosing not to apologize for his outburst, Rin opted for slinging himself down on his rumpled bed instead.

Haru had left him. Again. For Makoto. Not again. Technically this was the first time for that, but still.

He hurt. Again.

And it was Haru's fault. Again.

And now, he had the added complication of the fact that he was not really sure if they were dating or not.

And if they were, then he was in a closed relationship with someone in an open relationship, which didn't really make a whole lot of sense.

There was no way this was ever going to work.

That being said, he rolled over and grabbed his phone from where he'd left it in bed. His mind sifted through all of the possible repercussions, but he couldn't come up with any scenarios that hurt worse than what he was going through now, so he hit the little green button.

"Hello? Rin?"

"Makoto, we need to talk. It's about Haru."

* * *

**Author's Note:** Sorry I've been on an unannounced hiatus for the last 3.5 days. I got a rather nasty review from someone, and it kind of got me down. I didn't feel like I'd be able to write up to my usual standards, so I chose not to write at all. I'm still not sure that this is on par with the rest of my story, but then again, I'm prolly not a good judge right now. So let me know what you guys think.

On a side note, thanks to all my reviewers, especially this time, because I wouldn't have been able to get back in the swing of things without all of y'alls encouragement. And since I was gone for so long, I tried to make this chapter a little longer to make up for it.

Sele-chan: I was writing this chapter when I got your review, so I hope it lives up to your wishes?

Nana: You made me smile when I needed it the most.

Ashleyjo: Thank you sooo much!

Anime: I did plan to carry it out for a little bit after the relationship, but I'm not too firm on the plot line for it yet.

And to everyone else: I loves you all. You make me feel happy about writing!


	24. Chapter 24

**Note from the author: I do not own in any way, shape or form, the anime, manga or any of the characters from Free!**

* * *

Well, this was interesting. He was used to having to smooth things over after Haru rolled through. After all, not many store owners took it well the first time the water loving teen started trying to take a bath in their fish tank. Or their lobster tank…swimming pool…sprinklers…or anything else that was remotely wet. But this…this was a new level even for Haru.

He hadn't been surprised when Rin had called and asked to meet. He'd been expecting it. He hadn't been too surprised when Rin said he'd come to his house. He hadn't been expecting that, but it was next to Haru's, so maybe it was just on the teen's way. What he certainly hadn't been expecting was the agitated, frustrated, angry red headed boy that had toothily scowled at him when he'd opened his door.

In retrospect, maybe he should have. This was Haru after all, and if he'd learned nothing else recently, he'd learned that Haru had a way of turning simple things into complicated ones. Especially when his emotions were involved.

So really, he should have expected something like this. He shouldn't have been taken off guard. Yet… It was a little difficult not to stare at Rin like the boy had walked in from another planet. After all, who would really have expected those words, in that tone, to come from that guy? It was just…weird.

"How long have you and Haru been dating?"

* * *

Rin was annoyed and hurt. Mostly annoyed. Scratch that. Mostly hurt. Well, no. Annoyed. Hurt? He wasn't even sure anymore. This time it was definitely Haru's fault.

If he'd been paying attention, he probably would have noticed the rather fascinating silence suddenly imposed upon the completion of his question, but as it was, he only realized Makoto hadn't answered him when the green eyed teen started laughing.

Ok. Now he was definitely annoyed.

* * *

These guys. Were they serious? They had to be the most ridiculous, emotionally stunted idiots he could possibly ever meet.

He hoped.

"We're not dating, Rin," Makoto finally managed to get out between chuckles.

"Like hell."

What a snarky reply. Next thing you know, he was going to accuse the two of them of being secret lovers in their free time.

"I've seen you two together. At his house. The way he was after swim practice. Don't try to tell me you guys aren't sleeping together."

What was the phrase he needed now? Oh yeah. O.m.g. Seriously? He'd been kidding when he'd thought it, but seriously?

"Rin, I don't know what you think you've seen, but we're not dating, sleeping together, or even crushing on each other," Makoto replied firmly.

"But…"

Makoto interrupted, "Maybe this would be easier if you just tell me what you think you know, so I can clarify things?"

And so it begins.

* * *

_Good luck, Rin._

No matter how you looked at it, the other teen was going to need it. Now that all of the misunderstandings had been cleared up, hopefully, maybe those two morons would be able to figure things out. But this _was_ Haru, so it would probably not be easy. Poor Rin.

The other teen had somehow managed to confuse just about every possible situation to support his rather painful theory. He'd been able to tell how much each admission had cost the shorter boy, and he was glad to be able to have helped his two friends.

Makoto smiled. Haru. He loved that kid. When Rin had tried to fall back on the defense that Haru had feelings for him that maybe the azure eyed teen didn't know about, he'd been able to shoot that down quickly enough, but it had taken a little digging to figure out why the teen had been so sure in the first place.

Stupid Haru. Stupid, goofy, loveable Haru.

It was nice to be defended though. He knew Rin hadn't meant things the way Haru had taken them when he'd said the raven haired boy needed to stop seeing him. He didn't even understand how Haru had taken it until he'd had it meticulously pointed out to him. That was somewhere around the time he'd started to develop a twitch. It was rather amusing.

Hopefully the two emotionally stunted teens would figure it out before they drove someone crazy. Mainly him.

Makoto smiled. He almost couldn't wait for tomorrow. Just because he wanted to see how things turned out. Although, this was Haru, so things likely had to get worse before they got better. Still, though. It'd be good for the teen.

As he cooked dinner that night, he muttered a silent apology to his friend for any discomfort that would come his way. It'd be good for him, but it'd probably hurt at least a little. Like a shot. You really needed it, but it stung a bit at the time.

* * *

Haru churned the water angrily with his hands as he slumped even further into the bathtub. Stupid Rin. He'd had no right. No right at all. How dare he ask that? How dare he?

One hand lashed out angrily, splashing water across the floor.

_Stupid, stupid, Rin._

"That was a little unnecessary, don't you think?" Rin asked leaning against the door frame.

Rin was here. In his house. In his bathroom. And he was smiling, which considering the conversation they'd had just a few hours ago, did not bode well for him.

But…

He wasn't backing down.

No…

Matter..

What.

* * *

This was not going to be easy. Haru was obviously angry. Very angry, in a childish sort of way.

He couldn't help himself when the lazy smirk he'd pasted on his face outside the bathroom door transformed into a toothy smile when Haru sunk low enough into the bathwater to start blowing irritated bubbles into the blue green water surrounding him. It was cute. Although, judging from the other teen's scowl, he probably shouldn't say that out loud.

Well, here goes nothing.

"I'm sorry."

* * *

He hadn't been expecting that. A phrase he seemed to be thinking a lot when he was around his red eyed rival.

"About what this time?" He didn't bother to keep the bite from his tone.

"I didn't mean what you think I did about Makoto."

* * *

Haru didn't respond. Did Rin think he was stupid?

"I thought you two were dating."

_Huh?_

Where in the world did that come from? Him and Mako? That was just…weird.

* * *

The startled look on his maybe, sort of, kind of, boyfriend's face gave him hope. It might still be possible to salvage their relationship, at least, Mako had seemed to think so earlier. He hoped the brown haired teen was right because if they could just get to the kiss and make up part, Rin would be ecstatic, especially considering the fact Haru looked rather…_yummy_ sitting in the tub like that.

* * *

"Why would you think that?" Seriously. How did he come to that conclusion?

"Does it matter? I already worked it out with Makoto."

He _what_?

* * *

"The only thing that matters now is whether you believe that I didn't mean it the way it sounded," Rin continued.

It wasn't the only thing that mattered, but it was a start.

* * *

"Ok."

If Rin was apologizing, he could let it go, but only as long as it never, ever got brought up again.

"You want to come out of the tub now?"

What a stupid question.

"Not particularly."

* * *

"Haru?"

"What?"

"Let me rephrase that for you. Get out of the tub," Rin told the water loving boy firmly.

"No."

"Haru."

"No."

Rin smiled.

"You can get out of the tub…" He trailed off stretching the silence.

"Or?" Haru challenged.

"Or I can get in," Rin smiled.

"Um, no you can't."

"Oh?"

"But your tub's big enough for two. We've already put that theory to the test. Remember?"

"No. You can't," Haru ground out.

"Why is that exactly," Rin asked walking to sit on the edge of the tub, smirking as his azure eyed _boyfriend_ moved away.

Boyfriend. It had a nice ring to it.

"Just because."

"Because why?"

"Just because."

"Haru." A hand dipped below the water.

"Y..yeah?"

Rin watched, fascinated as Haru gulped.

"Why won't you get out of the tub?"

When his hand slid against the bare skin of Haru's hip, he grinned.

* * *

He was _screwed_.

Rin knew exactly why he wouldn't get out, but he was being a pain.

"Rin. Go away," He swatted the teen's arm when the hand on his hip began inching its way down his thigh.

"Why?" Rin asked, parroting him.

"I'll get out if you leave," He finally complied.

* * *

Rin shifted his weight to rest on the tub more firmly before leaning over to whisper into the skin of Haru's neck.

"Hurry. I'm not feeling very patient today for some reason," He muttered against the tanned skin of the other boy's shoulder before pulling away, one hand trailing up the inside of the raven haired teen's thigh before he stood and lazily made his way to the door.

* * *

Haru quickly slid from the tub, wrapping a towel around his waist, before following Rin into his bedroom, glaring at the older teen as he fished around in his dresser for something to wear.

It was difficult and more than a little embarrassing trying to juggle his towel and still slide his pajama pants up his legs. A task he probably wouldn't have accomplished without further embarrassing himself if Rin hadn't stepped up to grab his towel just as it started sliding off his hips again.

* * *

"Need some help?"

Poor Haru. He was so flustered.

He wished he could say that he helped the water logged teen out of the kindness of his heart, but the sad truth was, he was pretty sure their newly repaired relationship wouldn't survive what he wanted to do to the other boy, and Haru's slicked, uncovered skin wasn't helping his restraint any.

* * *

"Thanks," Haru muttered, finally sliding his pants up and stepping away from the other teen, towel sliding uselessly to the floor.

Maybe now Rin would go home. He needed time to figure out what was going on. Time without Rin. Actually, he just needed to think. He wasn't really sure of Rin anymore. He didn't know what the other boy was to him. Were they friends? Rivals? B..b…boyfriends? Even his mind stuttered on the thought.

"Haru."

Why was it always Rin that seemed to break their silences now? He looked into the red haired teen's face, unsure.

* * *

_Oh, Haru._

The look on the azure eyed boy's face landed him in the circle of Rin's arms, which very quickly landed them both in Haru's bed.

When Haru started to struggle, not ready for whatever was flashing through his mind, Rin shushed the squirming teen and drew him closer so that his head rested against Rin's shoulder, and his breathe fanned across the boy's tanned skin.

* * *

He didn't want this. He was sure of it. Whatever this was. He was sure.

And then he wasn't.

"Rin?" He queried softly.

"Yeah, Haru?"

"What are you doing?"

A beat of silence. The touch of lips against his temple.

"Holding you."

"Oh." What was he supposed to say to that?

"Is that ok?" Rin seemed concerned, and his arms loosened ready to release the azure eyed teen when he voiced his dissent.

Haru thought about it for a minute, but he wasn't uncomfortable. Far from it in fact. There was something strangely soothing laying in the circle of Rin's arms, legs tangled together.

"I…I think so?" He wished he'd sounded more sure.

* * *

Rin smiled, kissing the top of Haru's raven locks before relaxing into sleepy bliss.

Haru wasn't ready to completely trust him yet, and he deserved that. But someday…Someday, he would. He was going to make sure of that.

_Someday._

* * *

**Author's note:** Aww, I love you guys so much. Y'all are all so nice to me. Just to clarify, it wasn't any of you guys that upset me. It was, as some of you said, a really mean person who just had a problem with the content of my story. They reviewed as a guest, but I just chose not to publish it. It's been deleted, and thanks to all the really sweet reviews from the last chapter, it's all but forgotten. So thanks again for helping me get back on track! Love you all!

A person waiting for the next chapter: I have no idea. Sadly, I only know what's going to happen in my story about an hour or so before you guys do. XD So the best I can say is it will end when I no longer have a story good enough to tell.

Cookie: Lol. Sorry you couldn't sleep. *sings lullaby and posts new chapter just in case*

Stella: I loves you. ^^

Themidnightwriter112: You make me so happy. :D I freely admit my story chapters come out in three categories: emotional torture, fluffy torture, or plot with one or the other types of torture thrown in. And I kind of just flip a coin to see which it'll be each day. Lol.

Lilly: ty! I like my Haru boy to be a strong character even though he's mostly passive.

Sele-chan: Don't worry. You didn't get me down. I loved your review actually. The laughing like crazy part made me want to make Mako laugh like crazy. So twala!

And thanks to everyone else for all the encouragement and support. I loves you guys, and I would never leave the story half finished no matter what. On a sort of related side note: I decided to write until I can't think of anything worth writing anymore. I will continue Haru and Rin's story through their relationship. It seems kind of pointless to get to this point then just leave you guys hanging. Besides, I have all sorts of entertaining ideas on how to torment the two poor dears even more. Until next time! (So...tomorrow.) Love you guys!

-Daya

P.S. Also, if anyone happens to find an error, would they mind PMing me. Please don't list them in the reviews, but I do like to correct them as I find them. I try to re-read my story every week or so to fix any I find, but I prolly will never catch them all.


	25. Chapter 25

**Note from the author: I do not own in any way, shape or form, the anime, manga or any of the characters from Free!**

* * *

"Were you and Rin able to work things out?" Makoto asked Haru softly as they wandered towards the pool.

He'd wondered about it all day, but he hadn't been able to corner the other teen to talk without Rei or Nagisa hanging around.

* * *

Haru shrugged. He had no idea. Rin hadn't exactly been real clear on the subject. They were ok on the Makoto issue, but what that meant, who could tell?

And he hadn't even had a chance to ask the red headed teen as the boy had disappeared out his front door shortly after he'd woken up. Not that he blamed him. Much. He did have his own classes to attend after all.

But still…

He could have at least said _something_. Like what exactly were they doing again? Or maybe if they were friends now or if Rin still hated him or… He blanked.

_Boyfriend._

Oh, yeah. That's right. Were they…that word? Or was he over-thinking this?

Who knew? Certainly not him.

* * *

Ok. Apparently, things must not have gone as well as he'd hoped. And while he wanted to sit Haru down and have a heart to heart with his azure eyed friend, if his two friends were to have any hope of getting their relationship to last, then they needed to work things out on their own.

He'd always been there for Haru, but…this one time, he needed to let Rin take care of him.

Somehow, he just knew this was going to be hard. Really hard. Much harder than he'd first anticipated when he'd gotten that first inkling that there might be something going on between his emotionally stunted friends.

Why did he always get caught in the middle of these things again?

* * *

This was strangely familiar in a different sort of way.

Nagi and that other guy he hung around with were gone, leaving just Haru and Makoto at the pool. Mako looked like he was just keeping watch on the other boy as he slid through the water, the clear liquid parting for his passage.

"Yo," Rin nodded to the taller teen.

"Rin!"

Geez, excitable much?

"Well, I'll just leave this to you then, huh?"

Leave what?

His confusion must have shown because Mako just sighed loudly before patting him on the shoulder and walking away.

Oh.

_Haru._

It was actually rather entertaining to watch the water soaked boy as he gracefully swam back and forth across the pool. He was beautiful. Stunning. All rippling muscles and tanned skin. And enthusiasm. That love for water that was always shining through his eyes.

He wanted_._

_Haru._

* * *

He didn't realize anything had changed until his fingers went to meet the wall and he found them sliding against warm skin instead. Unfortunately, his momentum was already set, so he really had no choice but to crash into the teen that had stupidly decided to get in his way.

* * *

When Rin finally got his breath back, Haru was scowling. Not the brightest plan he'd ever had, but considering the teen was now within reach and focused on him, it worked.

"What exactly do you think you're doing?"

Easy question. Stupid kid really shouldn't have asked.

"I came to see you," Rin chided the raven haired teen for his anger.

"You…" Haru trailed off. "You idiot!"

"Now, now, Haruka, that's not a nice thing to say to your boyfriend."

"B..b..boy..boyfriend?" Haru squeaked.

Rin slipped one hand through the water to catch the other boy around the waist and pull him closer, until skin touched skin, before glaring at him.

"Yes. Boyfriend. What did you think we were?" Rin growled, annoyed.

"Uh…"

It wasn't as easy in the water as it was on land, but Rin managed to get enough traction to turn them both so that Haru was pinned between him and the wall.

* * *

Haru gulped. This didn't look good.

The hand at his waist released its hold to travel across his back.

Really not good.

Rin's body pressed against his, making it impossible for him to escape the other teen's hold.

He was screwed.

The warmth of Rin's mouth appeared at his neck before it began licking its way down, pausing over his pulse, before continuing further to rest over his nipple.

Really screwed.

When his red eyed rival began swirling his tongue over the tip, he jolted.

This was not good.

Then somehow, one of Rin's hands found their way into his swimsuit, tracing along his hip just beneath the edge.

He was pretty sure he was repeating himself now.

And now that hand wasn't at his hip anymore. It was moving. Down. Down.

_Too far down!_

* * *

Rin stopped when Haru started struggling.

_Shit._

Apparently, they were going to have to take things slow. Very slow. Slower than this if Haru's wide, bright blue eyes were any indication.

He could do slow. For Haru. It might kill him, but he could do slow. It_ would_ kill him, but he could do it.

* * *

Haru tensed when Rin's hand slid against his skin again but relaxed when he realized that it was sliding up instead of down.

"I'm sorry."

He blinked, surprised.

Now what for? The question must have shown in his eyes because Rin answered it for him.

"For going too fast. This is new to you, and you're not comfortable with it. I shouldn't be rushing you this way."

"It's ok," Haru looked away from his…boyfriend, blushing uncomfortably. Did they have to talk about this? It was embarrassing.

* * *

Rin sighed, drawing the impossible boy into his arms.

"It's not ok if you don't like it, Haru. All you ever have to do is tell me, and I'll stop," he whispered against the water logged raven locks beneath his lips.

"Do you believe me?" Rin asked pulling back to stare into the azure eyes watching him warily.

"Um…"

* * *

What was he supposed to say again? No, not really, didn't seem like a very good answer. It would hurt Rin, and while he didn't want that, he didn't want to lie to the boy either.

So say nothing. What could he say, but that it was one of those things that had seemed like a good idea at the time?

* * *

"Let's go," Rin whispered, drawing Haru through the water in his wake.

He had to keep reminding himself that trust took time to create, and he'd already destroyed Haru's several times. Until Haru was ready, there couldn't be any more touching. Not like that.

Which led him to wonder if kissing counted...

Because not kissing Haru…

He was going to die.

But he could do it. For Haru.

Application for sainthood.

Candidate name.

Matsuoka, Rin.

Admission Status.

_Pending_.

Again.

* * *

**Author's note:** Sooo, hope you guys like it! I'm prolly going to have a few chapters of fluff and relationship building before I throw more plot at you guys. I'm in a rather fluffy mood atm, so I hope you guys don't mind!

Fox: Lol, I love you. You made me giggle so much.

Nana: I like squeals. :P

Kazumiko: Smile more?

KaZe: Thank you, Sweetie. You gotta hand it to poor, sort of dense, emotionally stunted, Haru. He's a cutey pie, though.

FallenAngel: *wraps more snuggly bliss around you* More snuggles, yay! I'm glad you liked Rin. I'm trying to balance these idiots on a really thin line, and sometimes I worry how well I'm able to do that. I want Rin to be more aggressive, but he also needs to be sweet and confused too. So let me know if I ever veer him too far off!

Stella: Nagi and Rei don't get to know yet, but I'm sure they will find out in a very interesting way. Eventually… *evil cackles*

Theabridgedkuriboh: You may not be here yet, but I have to say, your little reviews are short snippets of hilarity. I just randomly start cracking up every time I read them.

Cookie! : *Noms golden cookie* Yummy. Yaoi: I do that sometimes, get so engrossed in a story I'm late for something. Even though I think I should feel bad about doing that to you, it makes me really happy!

Noycha: You are freaking AWESOME. *huggles*

To everyone else: Thanks for all the wonderful reviews! I get so happy every time I get to read a new one, and I hope everyone is enjoying this story as much as I'm enjoying writing it! Love you guys! Until next time! (Tomorrow) Bye now!


	26. Chapter 26

**Note from the author: I do not own in any way, shape or form, the anime, manga or any of the characters from Free!**

* * *

Haru groaned. How had he ended up here again?

Practice. He'd been in swim practice. Then…

Ice cream. With Nagi. And Mako and Rei.

Then…

Home?

He was pretty sure that was it.

And then…

Bath. Ok, so that got him here. Because that's where he was. The bath. But, it didn't get Rin here. And he was. Here that is.

Also in the bath. With him. And they were naked. Again. This was oddly familiar. Oh yeah. Because it had happened.

Now what?

A question he should never have asked aloud.

He flushed a dull red when Rin's formerly stationary arms slid over his skin, running across the muscles of his chest, dipping into his navel, before continuing their trek downwards.

When those same hands began swirling circles at his hips before sliding down over his thighs, he squeaked, pressing back to avoid devilish fingers.

"Haru," Rin whispered, hot breath ghosting across his skin and running goose bumps up and down his arms.

"Y..yes?"

"Wake up."

_Wake up?_

* * *

"Haru. Haru! You shouldn't fall asleep in the bathtub," Makoto chided gently when azure eyes began blinking up at him sleepily.

"Mako?"

"It's almost time for school, Haru."

"Oh."

* * *

It was official. He was dying. He kept having those dreams. The ones with Rin. They were bad. Uncomfortable. Disturbing. And just generally…bad. It was the only word he could think of that adequately described it. Bad.

_Bad. Bad. Bad._

He hadn't _seen_ his…that word…that b word. The one Rin used so easily. He hadn't seen him all week, and it was almost the weekend now, which wouldn't normally have bugged Haru except…Rin had called. Not him. No, he'd called Mako. Why? To tell him to let Haru know that he'd be over this weekend.

He wasn't invited. If he had Rin's blasted number, he'd call and tell him that. But he didn't… Mako did, but when Haru asked him to pass along the message, he'd flat out refused.

He didn't want Rin to come over. He wanted…something else. Probably. Although, he did miss the other teen.

But only a little. A teensy tiny bit. Because he was warm. Yeah. That was it.

He should buy a heater. Then he wouldn't need Rin.

He'd get one after school today. Then spend some time with Rin when he came over. Then he'd kick him out.

He nodded to himself.

Yep. That would work.

* * *

He was at Haru's house for the first time all week, which was great, except for the more than mildly irritating fact that the raven haired boy wasn't here. And he should have been. Why? Because swim practice was over. He'd called Makoto to make sure.

And the teen wasn't at the pool still because he'd checked. So process of elimination said he should be here, and if he wasn't, he was out on the beach. He wasn't there either. So where was he?

* * *

It had taken him longer than he'd thought at the store. They had a lot of different kinds of heaters. But then they also had these warm blankets. And blankets were soft. Like skin. Sort of. He'd had a hard time deciding. He'd come for a heater, but he couldn't have that in bed with him. In the end, he'd compromised.

He got both.

Which was how he ended up encountering a rather irritated boy in his hallway with a blanket in one hand and a heater in the other.

* * *

It was the middle of summer, and Haru left him waiting to go buy a blanket and a heater?

"Haru," Rin kept his tone mild, "Is there any particular reason you couldn't wait until…Oh I don't know…Winter, to buy those?"

* * *

_Uh oh._

"Uh…" Haru trailed off when Rin advanced until they were practically nose to nose.

Didn't his b..b… _friend_ know that it was hard to think when he was that close?

"I needed them." There it finally came out.

"Yeah? Why is that?"

"So I don't miss you so much."

* * *

What the heck did that even mean?

_Miss you._

He missed him?

Haru did?

But a heater and a blanket? Really? How did that help?

"Haru, how is that going to help?"

Haru looked to the side and steadfastly refused to meet his gaze, stubbornness in every line of his body.

"Haru?"

It was a warning, and the only one the other teen was getting.

Silence.

That was ok. Rin had developed a cure for silence.

* * *

He wasn't going to say anything. It sounded weird even to him, so he definitely wasn't going to share with the other teen. He'd laugh.

He was moving. How had he not noticed that? He was in his bedroom. How did he get there again? He was falling. Why was Rin smirking like that?

* * *

Silly kid. He really needed to pay more attention. It was a little disturbing how easily he'd let himself be led down the hallway and into his bedroom, and if Rin were a different kind of person, it could also be very dangerous.

Unfortunately, it was difficult to yell at him when he looked up at you with those wide, azure eyes, and that confused expression on his face from his position in bed. Actually, it was difficult to yell at Haru in general.

But, there were other ways to…reign Haru in.

* * *

Haru skittered back, feet tangling in the sheets, when Rin stalked forward.

He was trying to unwrap the white chains from his ankle when Rin pulled him down to slide under the red eyed boy's body.

This was not as new a thing as it ought to have been. Him and Rin. Staring into each others' eyes. Him looking up. Rin looking down. Yep. This should not be this familiar.

He reached up and pushed against his b..b… friend's chest, but Rin didn't budge. He just sat there, trapping him, with that evil, toothy smirk on his face.

It was…

Kind of _scary._

When Rin finally did move, he almost missed it because he was too busy in his own head.

* * *

Sitting up slowly, Rin observed the faraway expression on his boyfriend's face. It would have been amusing if Haru hadn't been in bed with him. It didn't really matter that they weren't doing anything. It didn't even matter that they weren't going to do anything. Or at least, anything much…

But still. He should at least have the decency to pay attention.

* * *

Warm hands burned through the fabric of his shirt as they tugged at the tie around his neck before sliding down to unbutton his shirt, spreading it wide.

The weight above him disappeared.

Startled, Haru pulled his gaze from where the tanned fingers had been to see where the teen had ended up.

Beside him.

Smiling gently.

His eyes looked happy.

* * *

It was always amusing to watch Haru when he was paying attention. He had that one moment where he looked startled. That's when you knew he was with you. Then he would just blink at you, his eyelashes fluttering gracefully, until he eventually caught up with what was going on. Finally, there was recognition, and if you played your cards right, confusion.

Leaning over from where he lay next to the azure eyed teen, Rin placed a light kiss on his cheek.

"Rin?"

"Yeah, Haru?"

Confused blue. It was a beautiful color.

"Why'd you stop?"

Rin's eyes widened. Haru was whining. About him?

"Uh."

His mind blanked. Why had he stopped again?

One hand reached out to rest against the tanned muscles of Haru's abdomen. When the teen beneath his hand shuddered at the contact, he remembered.

"You weren't ready for me to do anything else."

"Umm…"

"What is it Haru?"

* * *

This was a stupid question. He knew it was. Especially considering some of the dreams he'd had recently. And that didn't even count all of the things he was sure Rin had already done to him, but…

"What else…is there?"

* * *

The weak, whispered question caught him off guard. Again. The feeling was actually becoming normal for him when he was around Haru.

"Uh..there's uh..t..touching and um…"

Why was this so hard? He'd already done most of this stuff to the other teen anyhow.

"T..tasting…kissing…and…and…"

"And?"

"Sex."

There. He'd said it.

* * *

"Sex?"

Rin jerked his head in response.

Haru frowned.

* * *

"Rin, we can't have sex," Haru told him solemnly.

"I know. You're not ready for it, Haru. We'll take our time, and…"

"No. I mean we can't have sex."

"I know. We don't have to yet. We can wait until…" He was interrupted again.

"No. I mean. You're a guy."

Did he just notice that?

"And I'm a guy."

Rin just stared at him. Haru was not about to go where he was pretty sure the teen was about to go, was he?

"So?"

"So," Haru ground out frustrated at having to explain the mechanics of sex to his own b..b..boy...Rin.

"Yeah, so?" Rin prodded secretly hoping the teen would say anything but what he was pretty sure was coming.

"So. Two guys can't have sex."

_Oh, God._

He really said it.

And strangely enough, the next thought that crossed his mind was…

_Makoto, where the hell are you?_

* * *

Rin just stared at him like he'd grown a second head. How had the other teen missed that rather pertinent factor?

It was nice. All the other stuff. The touching and...stuff, but that was as far as they were ever going to get. If they ever got that far. It was still weird after all.

He liked Rin, but the other teen was much more physical than he was. He didn't like all the other stuff as much as his red headed friend did. At least, he was pretty sure he didn't. Mildly sure. A little sure?

_Not so sure._

* * *

That's it. This was Makoto's job. There was no way in _hell_ that he was going to explain the mechanics of sex to Haru. Mako was the kid's best friend. He should do it. That's what best friends were for. To explain things. Because there was no way he was doing it. Ever. At least…not unless it was show and tell. Then, he might have agreed to try.

"Just don't worry about it for now, Haru," Rin told the other teen, "We're not there yet anyhow."

* * *

If Rin didn't want to face reality, who was he to make him?

* * *

They lay there like that for a long time, side by side, not talking or even looking at each other, until the sun left the windows to the darkness and the shadows stole across their faces.

Rin was almost asleep when Haru shifted, rolling over until he was draped across the red haired teen.

He smiled because he finally understood.

Haru really had missed him. Not just him, but him here, in bed. Even if the other teen refused to admit it, his most recent shopping purchases were all the proof Rin needed. There was no way the frustrating kid was ever getting rid of him. And he certainly was not trading him in for a blanket and a heater.

* * *

Haru shifted again to get more comfortable. He was relatively sure he wasn't dreaming, but he was mostly asleep, so it didn't bother him too much, getting this close to Rin.

Snuggling in closer, he nudged one leg between Rin's and slid one hand to rest against warm, tanned skin beneath the other teen's shirt. He would never be brave enough to do this when he was awake, and if Rin asked him about it in the morning, he could always deny it saying he'd been asleep.

Yeah. That was a good plan.

His breath evened out to the sound of the red eyed teen's heart.

_Rin._

* * *

**Author's note:** So fluffy much?

Kakashi's Mistress: Thank you for reviewing! I love getting reviews because it helps me get in the mood to write, so thank you for helping to inspire me for this chapter. I'm glad you've been enjoying it. It makes me really happy to think that someone out there is waiting for me to post something new. Hope you like it.

Ren chan: Lol, you're right about that application. And yes, I saw it and was like: I need to write a MakoXHaru when I finish this story someday. XD

w- easy enough: Fluffy from my fluffy mood. Here you go!

Takoyuuri: Thank you soo much! And of course Haru will make it hard for Rin, but he won't mean to. XD

FallenAngel: Lol, yeah, I think I was wincing when I wrote that part about Rin taking the hit, but then it was his own fault, so I didn't feel as bad. And yeah, I totally get what you're saying about the crazy switched.

Anime: Wow, I don't even know what to say. I'm smiling so much right now, I doubt real words could come out anyway.

Cookie: Longer as requested. Hope you like!

KaZe: I try to avoid filler unless it's needed for plot. Which is to say, unless I want to use it to create a really entertaining misunderstanding for a later chapter that I'm just not telling you about yet. :P And ty. I'm trying really hard to keep these crazy boys in character, so it made me happy that you said I was doing good with it!

Thank you to all of my reviewers! You guys are what give me the inspiration to write each of these chapters, so I really appreciate it. Hopefully, you won't get too bored with my fluffy chapters, but I think I'm going to have at least one more pure fluff before I throw any more plot at you guys. Love you all! Until next time!


	27. Chapter 27

**Note from the author: I do not own in any way, shape or form, the anime, manga or any of the characters from Free!**

* * *

It was hot. Not warm. _Hot._ And it was Rin's fault. Why? Because…

A wet tongue streaked another ribbon-y path across his chest.

Oh, yeah. That's why.

Said tongue slid around the outside of his navel before dipping inside. Hands slid to skim just beneath the hem of his swimsuit before they caught.

Then the pulling started. More skin was bared. It was getting hotter. And harder to breathe. He wasn't sure why that was.

Rin's tongue finally left his navel to trace further down following the path of skin left in the wake of his suit, the red eyed teen's hair tickling as it brushed against tanned skin.

Haru groaned when the other boy left off to finish overseeing the removal of his swimsuit, a devilish gleam in his eye.

He was going to…something…something bad. Because only bad things could happen when Rin looked at him like that.

When Rin began stripping, he decided maybe it wouldn't be that bad after all. But then it got hotter, and Rin's smile got a little toothier.

Scratch that. It was bad. And Rin was…naked. Probably. But only because Haru was doing his best to look at anything besides the, _probably_, naked body of his ex-best friend.

"Haru."

Haru ignored the whispery command.

"Haru. Look at me."

Not a good idea. He was positive of that. Besides, if you can't see it, it's not there.

A warm hand caught at his chin, jerking it up to meet the amused teen's crimson gaze before warm lips attacked his mouth.

It was hard to breath. He wasn't breathing actually. He was drowning. In Rin.

After what felt like an eternity, Rin finally let him up, and as he lay gasping for breath under the now confirm-ably naked teen, Haru felt himself being pulled under a new wave of what could only be described as fear.

This Rin was scary. He was going too far. And Haru was no longer sure what was going on or where this was going. He felt lost. Like he was in the middle of the ocean, treading water, with no land in sight.

Haru shuddered, unable to stop a helpless gasp from crossing his lips when Rin's wayward hand began tracing a path up the inside of his thigh.

"It'll be ok Haru."

Rin was leaning closer. The space that had formerly been the only barrier between him and the red haired teen was rapidly disappearing, and every inch of air that was displaced in the wake of the other boy's body left him feeling like that much more of his breath was being denied to him.

When Rin's chest finally touched his, Haru could feel every inch of the other teen against his skin, and his breath was further reduced until he could only draw in shallow, panting gasps of the air now warmed by Rin's body.

The hand at his thigh continued tracing circles across his skin, teasing.

It was so hot. He couldn't breathe, and Rin was just looking down at him with that amused, toothy smirk he always wore when he was too damn sure of himself.

God, it was hot. And there was too much skin. They were touching…everywhere. It was uncomfortable, and when Haru tried to shift so they weren't touching quite like…you know…Rin put more weight on his hips pinning him down.

Haru groaned, a low, whining sound that he hadn't known he could make.

"Haru?"

His breathe was sawing in and out of his lungs in the same panting manner as a dog on a hot summer day. He couldn't slow down. His eyes were dancing with those black spots you get when you stand up too fast or when you can't get enough air.

Air. He needed air.

"Are you ok?"

The concern of the other teen's voice was so at odds with the devilish look and the toothy smile still plastered on Rin's face.

"Haru!"

* * *

Rin had been rather peacefully enjoying his trip to lala land until the teen in his arms had started shifting restlessly.

He'd just about given up holding onto Haru, and, briefly, considered just letting him flop around the bed if that was what he'd wanted until he'd heard the hitch in the raven haired teen's breathing.

When Haru had started gasping for breath, Rin became concerned. Haru was having a nightmare. It was the only thing that could explain the fit the other teen was having, but after a couple of minutes of trying to wake the teen up verbally, Rin gave up and just shook the breathless boy awake.

He was relieved when the teen's eyelashes began fluttering revealing the confused, frightened azure eyes they'd been hiding.

* * *

"Haru, are you ok?"

Rin was different. He looked…concerned. Worried. Not like he had. The smirk was missing, and…he was dressed.

A dream. It'd been a dream. Haru sighed in relief.

He had no idea what was going on, but it had been…scary.

"Haru?"

Rin looked so worried. Not at all like the Rin he'd dreamed about. He was still breathing hard, and his limbs still felt frozen from the shock. He wasn't afraid of Rin. Not really, but that dream…it had frightened him. He wasn't sure why.

He'd been naked with Rin before. In his sort of dream-like reality, but this had been different. It had been something else. He'd felt something else.

"Did you have a nightmare, Haru?" Rin asked him gently, one hand cupping his face, drying a tear Haru hadn't realized he'd let fall.

Rin looked so worried. Not like the other one.

Looking into the red head's eyes, Haru felt safe. Protected. Sheltered. Like nothing bad was going to happen anymore.

"Haru?"

He didn't want to admit to anything. Rin would want to talk about it if he said anything. He didn't want to talk. He just wanted this. To feel safe.

* * *

Rin was more than a little surprised when Haru pushed him off from his precarious position half leaning over the other teen, but apparently it was a day for surprises.

Having managed to get Rin into a reasonably horizontal position, the raven haired teen then proceeded to half squirm and half crawl on him until the teen was laying flush on top of him, his warm breath tickling the skin of Rin's neck where Haru buried his head against his shoulder before the still slightly trembling hands bunched themselves into the fabric of his shirt.

And they stayed like that until night faded into day, Haru once again peacefully sleeping while Rin lay awake burning beneath the comfort of his boyfriend's body.

He should have been uncomfortable. Haru wasn't exactly light. He was all muscle after all, but with the pressing weight of the raven haired teen on top of him, Rin had never been more comfortable in his life.

He just had to keep his thoughts in check. Because if he didn't, he was pretty sure he wouldn't be able to say that.

He was going to look nice with that halo.

* * *

**Author's Note:** Sorry for the late update again! I had a hard time getting the inspiration together to sit down and write this weekend.

To all my Reviewers: Thanks to everyone that reviews. You guys are what help me write these chapters. When I can't think of anything to write, or I can't get it together, I just sit and wait for my next review to come in, and eventually, I can pull it all together. I hope I don't disappoint you guys. Sorry I took so long to update, I just had to wait a little longer than normal to get enough inspiration. ^.^

Also, to those who asked, I do plan to make the story longer than 30 chapters. I'm playing it by ear to decide how much longer, though. I want to keep writing as long as it amuses me and others and as long as I can tell a good story. When those criteria are no longer met, I'll end it. Until then, I'll just keep on keepin' on! I'm trying to decide if people are losing interest in the story or if people are just reviewing less, but for now, I'm still getting quite a few views per chapter, so I'm assuming the latter. I guess if the view number starts going down, I'll start drawing the story to a close.

Anyhow, thanks to everyone that reviewed for this last chapter! I read y'alls reviews over and over again, and you have no idea how helpful they are in keeping this story going. I couldn't write without you guys.

FallenAngel: First of all. OMG. I could not stop laughing. Then I decided you were right. XD I knew nothing about gay sex until I started reading FF all those years ago. I still remember how confused I was when I read my first yaoi story. It took me forever to figure out what was going on. Of course, I was about 10 at the time, so sex in general was a mystery. XD But, really, you totally made my day with that.


	28. Chapter 28

**Note from the author: I do not own in any way, shape or form, the anime, manga or any of the characters from Free!**

* * *

It was hot. Rin was wrapped around his body like a child with a cuddly teddy bear. Honestly, it was a little annoying. Why? Because it was hot.

After he'd woken up, again, Rin had, rather stupidly in his opinion, asked what he'd like to do today. Duh. He wanted to go swimming. So they did. All day. Until Rin, rather obnoxiously, got tired and forced him to take a break. Just because Rin needed a break didn't mean he did.

And so he ended up here. Sitting on the beach, staring out into the azure waves of the ocean as it glinted majestically in the rays of the late afternoon sun. With Rin.

Who seemed to have some sort of problem letting him go, which was annoying, and although he hated to admit it even to himself, a little bit disconcerting.

Besides all that, it _was_ hot. Because of the sun. And because Rin was warm. Which is specifically why Rin could be a little more obliging and let him go. Except he wouldn't. And it was irritating.

And the skin. His. And Rin's. There was too much. Not of his. He was adequately dressed. In his swimsuit of course. But Rin…

Rin was not.

Oh, he was wearing a swimsuit. Remarkably similar to his own if he was being honest, but it was different. Because it was.

So Rin needed to go put some clothes on. Unfortunately, he couldn't figure out how to tell the red headed teen that, so for now, he was going to ignore it.

Or try to.

* * *

Rin smiled when Haru began nodding off. His head bouncing up and down in that jerky motion that was a prelude to a nap you didn't intend to take. It was adorable. A thought Haru probably would not appreciate, but what Haru didn't know wouldn't hurt him. Or annoy him.

"Haru. Let's head back. You can sleep at home."

Haru, it seemed, was actually going to listen to him for once.

* * *

"Haru, you need a bath."

He was so tired.

"You've got sand all over you," Rin said, brushing him off as much as possible.

A little sand never hurt anyone.

"Haru, are you listening to me?"

His bed was comfy.

"Haru?"

So nice. He didn't want to move.

"You shouldn't ignore me, Haru."

Rin didn't sound happy, but he didn't really care.

Hands slid across his skin removing the rough grains of sand as they passed.

He was tired of this. He just wanted to sleep. Rin needed to stop being a pain.

Haru rolled over and curled into a ball, but the hands followed him. Touching. Brushing. Burning.

They danced over his neck, his back, his shoulders, gliding over sun bronzed skin. Sweeping something invisible from his swimsuit as they trailed over places they shouldn't be near.

Each touch was so perfectly innocent, he felt guilty. He wasn't even sure why. His chest was burning. Inside. The hands left him.

Sighing softly, Haru finally relaxed.

* * *

This kid. He loved him.

There wasn't really much else to be said.

* * *

When Haru woke up, it was to a darkened room. He rolled over, but it seemed that Rin had left him after depositing him at home. He was sad.

No he wasn't. Annoyed maybe, but not sad. He didn't want to be sad. There wasn't a reason to be.

He got out of bed, stretching, before wandering into the bathroom, listening to the crash of water as it filled the bottom of the bathtub.

While the water ran, Haru dug around his room, fishing out a pair of pajamas and pulling a towel out of the cabinet, placing both on the counter before turning off the water, stripping down, and then sinking into watery bliss.

Leaning back against the edge of the tub, Haru closed his eyes, reveling in the feel of the water's embrace. Life was perfect.

When the water started growing cold, he decided he probably needed to climb in bed soon, so he climbed from the tub, reaching out to grab his towel.

Reaching out to grab his towel…

He blinked.

Nothing?

He could have sworn he'd put his towel on the counter earlier.

"I have it."

The voice sounded from behind him.

He stood frozen. He knew it was Rin, but he couldn't move. For starters, he was naked. If he turned around, Rin would see way more of him than was strictly necessary. The very thought made him flush a bright red.

Warm hands brushed across his waist, surrounding him. A towel. Haru sighed in relief. Rin had given him his towel.

He turned slowly to face the teen that had apparently liberated not only his towel but his pajamas as well.

He scowled.

"Give me those," He growled, looking pointedly between Rin and the clothes in the red headed teen's hands.

"Ok."

Haru blinked. Well, that had been easy.

Famous last words and all that jazz.

Rin was too close now. The hands that had so casually wrapped him up moments before just as casually bared him again.

Haru gulped when Rin hit his knees. He tried backing away, but Rin's hand shot out to grasp the edge of one hip, holding him in place before the red haired teen leaned over.

Ok. Now it was official. Rin was way too close. And he was very intent on the task he had in hand.

Haru was going to die. He was sure of it.

Even as Haru's mind stood blank, his body moved with practice ease as Rin guided him. Cloth slid on skin and then Rin sat back, smirk fixed firmly on his face, to observe his handy work.

Pajama bottoms. Check.

Haru shrunk back as much as he could when Rin rose, shaking out the folded shirt in his hand before gently sliding it up his arm and over his shoulders. With a little prompting, Haru finished pulling the shirt on before freezing again when Rin's hands began the terrifying task of buttoning him up.

It may have just been him, but he was pretty sure that he'd never taken so long to button his own shirt. And there was never that much touching. There just wasn't. And there was no reason to be smiling like…that. That secret smile. Like the kind of smile you might have when you know that everyone else is wrong and only you know what's really going on.

Maybe Rin _was_ the only one that knew what was going on. He sure as hell didn't.

"There now. All done."

Finally. He was going to bed. Fast.

Or maybe not, since Rin didn't appear to be letting him go. Rin, who'd already been way closer than he needed to be, advanced forward, and Haru, courageous soul that he was, skittered back. And back. And back.

And then it became a story of boy meets wall.

And then Rin was there. So warm. So close. Hot breath ghosted across his face as the red headed teen leaned close. A warm brush on one cheek. Then the other. His forehead. His neck. A hand at his waist, just beneath the shirt. A quick swirl of the tongue across the shell of one ear. A meeting of bodies, touching uncomfortably. Fingers brushing the hair from his eyes.

Azure met red.

Looking into Rin's eyes, Haru knew.

He was…

_Dreaming._

Again…

* * *

**Author's Note:** Hehe, so, how many dirty minded people thought Rin was doing something naughty to Haru? You bad people… This is an 'innocent' story. Remember? For now at least… :P Also, for my sake, can you guys please tell me something you might like to see in the story? I do not in any way guarantee it will happen, but I'd like to write what you guys would enjoy.

L0llip0p: Hehe, more fluff than plot atm, but it is sort of leading up to some of the plot.

KaZe: Mwuhahaha! I live to confuse. Just when you think you know what's happening. Bam! Daya strikes again!

FallenAngel: You're going to kill me. I wrote this chapter as soon as I read your review for the last one. I find nothing more inspiring than having someone tell me how they feel or what they think of what I'm writing, and btw, Rin is going to have a long fall eventually I'm afraid. Also *adds Pope to update list*

Eyyy & Nana: Welcome eyyy! Glad you like it so far, and Nana, thanks for bringing friends! XD

Rule: *huggles* I feel all warm and fuzzy now. (In a purely non-sexual way :P )


	29. Chapter 29

**Note from the author: I do not own in any way, shape or form, the anime, manga or any of the characters from Free!**

* * *

This was going to be bad. He could already tell. He should just…wake up. Now.

Any second now.

Rin just stood there, that annoying, lazy smirk etched across his cocky face. Hands came to rest on his hips, rubbing soothing caresses across the light fabric.

He needed to get out of here. If he could just get to the door, he might be able to make it to his room and lock the door before the other teen could follow. Haru peeked up at his rival. Maybe not such a good idea after all.

Besides. It was a dream. What was the worst that could happen?

The hands at his waist tightened before they slid down the curves of his backside to cup underneath, lifting him against the wall until he stood on his tippy toes, anchored against the wall by Rin's hands and body. Something slid between his legs, then he was sitting.

He really didn't like where this was going. It was like knowing you were going the wrong way to get where you wanted to be, but without a map, you were helpless to fix it. He felt like that. He had no idea how he'd ended up like this, but it hadn't been intentional, and short of forcibly removing the other teen, he wasn't sure how to get out.

"Haru, you should pay attention."

He couldn't really move. Even if he'd wanted to, and it wasn't even because he was frozen solid this time. Probably. It really had more to do with the fact that his feet were no longer touching the ground.

The knee between his thighs lifted him higher, Rin's hands still holding him steady. And then he moved.

_Oh, God._

He burned. That's it. He was sick. There was no way this could be natural. He was running a fever and that was why it was so hot. And Rin… Well, he didn't need explaining. Mostly because he defied logic, and Haru didn't think he could come up with anything remotely logical anyway.

Water. Yes. His dream. He was going to think of water. Then it would be so. He closed his eyes.

They opened again.

_Water._

Well, there was water. Not that it was helping him out much. A beautiful view. Behind Rin. Not close enough to save him.

Rin shifted his knee again.

Haru pretended the helpless whimper didn't come from his own throat.

And again.

He was burning. The water was so close, but it was too far away.

When Rin pressed his already too close body even closer, Haru decided he was doomed.

His feet touched the ground. Peeking up, Haru had a moment's hope that this…thing had been over, but then it was dashed like a ship against the rocks at sea when Rin merely shifted so that his hips caught and held him against the wall, hands still at his waist.

That sharp, toothy smile bloomed on Rin's wicked face as he leaned down to steal Haru's breathe. Hips shifted forward.

Haru gasped against the other teen's mouth, hands reaching out to find the broad, tanned shoulders before him, pushing. And then he was falling.

* * *

Rin woke up to a loud thump. Rolling over to check on his azure eyed boyfriend, he found the bed empty. Confused, he sat up.

Where'd he go?

Shuffling off to the side brought him to lean and peek over the edge of the bed. He couldn't keep the grin off his face at the disturbed, disgruntled look the other boy sported.

* * *

When the low chuckle reached his ears, he looked up to meet Rin's hazy red eyes.

And suddenly, he was annoyed.

Standing, Haru reached over to grasp Rin's hand, dragging the, thankfully fully clothed, boy from the bed, down the hall, and to the front door, where he promptly proceeded to push the red headed teen out the door, slamming it in his face as he turned around.

Haru ignored the pleading tones begging him to let him back inside in favor of sinking down to the floor on his side of the door.

He was screwed. He didn't know what was going on. He was having these…_feelings_ that he didn't know what to do with. He had dreams he couldn't control, and to top it all off, he really wanted to go swimming, but the object of his rather terrifying affections was still sitting on his front step.

Today was just not going to be his day.

* * *

"What happened?" Makoto asked when a bedraggled Rin appeared on his doorstep.

"I have no idea. We were in bed one minute then the next thing I knew I was staring at Haru's front door."

"What'd you do?"

"I didn't do anything! I was sleeping before I got tossed out," Rin growled at him.

"I'll talk to him," Makoto sighed. Today was going to be a long day.

"While you're at it, you need to explain gay sex to Haru too," Rin told him before walking out his front door.

Makoto blinked as the door closed behind the other teen. He replayed the words, but no matter what he fit into the spaces of that sentence, he couldn't find a way to make it become anything other than what it was.

"Rin!" Makoto rushed out the front door, sprinting to catch up with the red headed teen his best friend was now dating.

Rin paused a moment, looking back at him.

"I have to explain what to Haru?"

Standing in front of the other boy, panting, Makoto could only hope he'd been wrong.

"Sex. Specifically of the gay variety. Although, maybe the straight variety too. For all I know, he has no idea what that is either…" Rin trailed off.

"But…You're his boyfriend."

"And you're his best friend."

"But I don't want to have sex with him!"

"Well, that's good because I'd have to kill you if you did, but that's all the more reason why you should do it."

Makoto looked at the usually somewhat normal teen in front of him and tried to piece together his thought train, but there seemed to be no logic for him to follow.

"Don't you think Haru would be more comfortable asking questions of his best friend than the boyfriend he's eventually going to be doing these things with?" Rin asked caustically.

Mako was still trying to get past the mental images that drew up when Rin continued.

"Don't you want what's best for Haru?"

Well, dang it. How was he supposed to fight that?

* * *

"Haru, it's Makoto. Open up."

He didn't want to be here. Unfortunately, he hadn't been able to say anything after Rin's last statement, and he'd been stuck watching helplessly as the other teen had disappeared.

The door opened. Haru watched him warily.

"Can I come in?"

Haru stepped back, so he took his shoes off at the door before heading for the living room.

This was going to be the most embarrassing conversation of his life. Now he just had to figure out where to start.

"Haru, umm…" He trailed off, "Do you know what sex is?"

Haru didn't even blink. Or blush.

"Yes."

When Makoto remained silent trying to figure out why this wasn't as embarrassing for the other boy as it was for him, Haru continued, thinking Makoto needed the explanation.

"It's where a boy and a girl sleep in the same bed."

Not technically wrong, but… He suddenly had a bad feeling about this.

"Haru, do you know where babies come from?"

Oh, please, let him know the answer.

"Of course. The cabbage patch."

Makoto was on his feet and out the door before he'd even realized it.

Good lord. This was going to be a _nightmare_.

* * *

How strange. It was a little odd that Mako had reached their age without knowing the answers to those questions, but who was he to judge?

* * *

**Author's note:** I had this thought, then I couldn't let it go. Stay tuned for 'The Talk' ladies and gentlemen! Which will prolly be appearing next time! And it's going to be hilarious. I can't stop laughing, and I haven't even written it yet. XD

**On another note:** Fortunately, I had already written this chapter when I started getting reviews for the last chapter, so I can at least warn you guys I will prolly be going awol for a bit. Hopefully no more than a couple of days. I can however say, I have learned my lesson. I will no longer ask you guys what you'd like included in the story. I appreciate you guys that were adults about the question who answered it following the same intention with which it was asked. Aka: The people who gave me nice, polite answers. Those of you who did not, it was not appreciated.

As for guest reviewers: I appreciate all reviews. I really do, but only if they have good intentions. If you are reviewing for the sake of being a pain, I will not publish your review. If you see your review has been published, then you have nothing to worry about. ^.^ Some of my best reviewers are guest only reviews, and I really appreciate you guys more than you know, so if you're worried about it for some silly reason, just check to see if your review has been published. There may be a short delay on publishing guest reviews, so don't worry too much if you check and it's not there yet.

On to answering my nice reviewers!

kuriboh: You're such a goof, but I really love you. You were awesome for reviewing every chapter as you read it, and I loved your commentary.

Guest: As you can now see, he was right. It was a dream! Next time I have Haru molesting Rin, he'll be conscious. And consciously conscious. If that makes sense? But he needs to have 'The Talk' before he can go any farther. I'm afraid the poor boy is rather confused atm.

johanatt: Yeah, but the story is drug out over a long period of time. Several weeks have passed actually. At least 6 I think if I recall correctly, and we all sleep at least about 1/3 of our day away. At least, I know I do!

Guest: Not sure if you read the author's note about 2ish chapters ago, but I did say I was in a fluffy mood. XP So if you made it through this chapter, then more plot should start showing up in the next one. I used these chapters for several reasons, but you won't understand until later, so remember them because they're not quite as pointless as they seem.

Nana: Day trip. Adds to list. Maybe somewhere not a beach, yes? XD Amusement park? Or any other suggestion you might have?

eyyy: At the moment, yes, Haru isn't really willing on the sexual side of the relationship, for reasons, which may be a little more obvious now. *points at Haru's current understanding of sex and babies* But that will change soon. And won't that just be a joy?

Cats: Ice cream. Innocent fluff. I see melting sweetness in their future. Poor children. Maybe while they're on that day trip I promised earlier.

emrr: I can manage that although, it prolly won't be specifically named as such, and you may have to wait a bit.

Angelfire: It will. ^.^


	30. Chapter 30

**Note from the author: I do not own in any way, shape or form, the anime, manga or any of the characters from Free!**

* * *

Today was the day. It had to be. He was running out of time. Rin had called yesterday, and to say he'd been displeased about his lack of progress had been an understatement.

He'd tried. He really had.

On Monday, he'd geared up to have that chat with Haru, but then Nagi had turned up, so he'd put it off by saying he'd do it tomorrow.

Which brought them to Tuesday, where he'd managed to get out a few words, mainly, Haru we need…, before Nagi had popped up again and finished his sentence with chocolate.

And then came Wednesday. No one had been around. Haru had been all alone by the pool, and what had he done? He'd left. He could do it tomorrow. Again. He was such a coward.

And then Rin had called. And he'd had little choice but to tell the other teen that he hadn't figured out how to talk to the azure eyed boy yet. If he were given a choice, he'd never figure it out, but Rin wasn't really leaving him any wiggle room.

It had to be done by Friday. Why? Because if it wasn't, Rin was going to drag Haru to his house after school and sit in the room with them when he gave Haru the talk. And if he wasn't careful, the red headed boy had threatened to ask his parents for help with it.

He could just see it now. Haru, perfect, oblivious, Haru would come out unscathed if a little more knowledgeable on the facts of life. But he, the teen's poor, tortured, best friend would melt into a puddle of embarrassed goo his mom would have to clean up off the living room floor.

And now it was Thursday.

He could do this. He had to. There was no other choice. He kept the encouraging mantra running continuously through his head as class turned into swim practice. Once everyone else seemed to be gone so that only he and his beloved best friend were alone, Makoto decided he'd better start so he could get this over with.

"Haru, we need to talk."

* * *

Haru paused where he was, his fingers lingering on the buttons of his shirt.

Makoto seemed upset. He'd been a little edgy all week. It had concerned him, but every time he'd asked, the taller teen had told him nothing was wrong. He didn't like Mako hiding things from him. Hopefully, whatever it was, he'd talk about it now.

"There are some things you need to know," Makoto continued.

He nodded. Yes, there were. Starting with what had happened to bother the other teen so much.

"Rin asked me to explain…umm…babies and…uh..sex and stuff to you," Makoto flushed a brilliant red.

Rin? Rin had upset Mako? Babies? Sex?

But, he already knew about that stuff. Why was Mako so upset about it? And how come he was so red?

Haru frowned.

"First of all, babies don't come from the…cabbage patch."

Yes, they did. His mom had told him so, which he would have kindly pointed out to his stuttering friend if Nagisa hadn't chosen that moment to duck into the room with Rei. Distracted as he was, Makoto never noticed them enter, and as Mako continued, Haru found himself equally distracted watching Nagi.

"Babies come from…well, when a man and a woman…they come from…sex," Makoto finally stuttered out.

Nagi was playing finger puppets or something from his position behind the brown haired teen. He had a finger from each hand and had wrapped them together, making some weird motions with them.

Haru wondered if he was supposed to guess what that stood for. He hoped not because he had no idea.

"And…sex is…sex is…where, uh…" Makoto trailed off.

Nagi had apparently figured out Haru wasn't getting his last attempt, so he tried a new one. With one hand, Nagi formed a circle with two fingers, while using a finger from the other hand to go through it.

Makoto continued, "A man and a woman love each other very much, so they…um…they express that love."

Basketball? If the one finger was the basketball, then he could be saying that it went through the hoop. But it was sideways, so probably not. If it were basketball, he'd have his hands vertical. So then it could be…

"Oh, but it doesn't have to be a man and a woman. It could, uh, it could be a man and a man, or well, you know…"

Ok, he was confused. Now Nagi was using two fingers from the hand not forming the circle. He hadn't figured out what one meant, so maybe this was a hint. But…he couldn't figure it out.

"And sex isn't a bad thing if it's with someone you care about…and you're…ready…and uh…prepared…yeah…"

Ok, this wasn't working. Nagi was pretty awful at this game.

* * *

"Haru, are you listening?" Makoto frowned.

Haru had looked confused almost immediately after he'd started talking. He was about to ask the boy if he had any questions when he realized that Haru wasn't even looking at him.

Following his friend's gaze, he found Nagisa, whom he was going to throttle for his finger puppet interpretations of the very serious matter he'd been tasked with explaining to Haru, and Rei, who looked like he wanted to be anywhere else, and he probably would have been too, if Nagi wasn't blocking the exit.

And then he realized. They'd heard him. Explaining sex. To Haru.

* * *

Haru watched, surprised, when Makoto brushed past Nagi leaving him with a hasty goodbye.

Well, ok then.

"Haru, why was Mako trying to explain that stuff to you?"

Huh? What stuff? Oh, that.

"Uh, he said Rin had told him to."

"I see. Well, that's ok then. Since he had to leave, why don't I explain everything, so Rin won't be mad, ok?"

The innocent, angelic expression on his friend's face had him agreeing without thought. He didn't want Rin to be mad. After all, he was probably already mad about Haru throwing him out last weekend without a reason. Well, he had a reason, but Rin didn't know that.

"And Rei can come with us, too. We can have a sleepover! My parents are out of town anyway, so this way I won't have to stay by myself. Isn't this great?" Nagisa cheered excitedly.

"I don't think I need to be there for this conversation," Rei finally added nervously. This sounded like an awful idea.

"But, Rei! You need to be there!"

"I think it would be better for Haruka if I'm not."

"But you can help me explain things."

"I'm sure you can manage, Nagisa."

"But…you might learn something!"

"Trust me, Nagisa, I know enough about where babies come from and sex. I think I'll be ok missing this," Rei insisted.

"You might learn something about gay sex, though. What about that?"

"I don't know that much about it, so I wouldn't be any help, and I can't think of a reason I'd need to know any more about it, so I still don't think I should go," Rei was to the point where he was about to make a run for it one way or the other.

"But Rei," Nagisa whined, sidling up to the taller teen with the most innocent expression he could manage plastered across his cherub cute face.

Haru suddenly had a bad feeling about this. He probably should have been paying more attention to the other two teens as they were conversing, but he'd ignored them in favor of getting dressed.

"Uh, I really…should…go…" Rei gulped when Nagisa slid one hand around his wrist. Why was it that as innocent and angelic as the shorter teen looked right now, he kind of reminded him of an axe murderer?

Nagisa stepped close, so naturally, Rei stepped back. And then he found the lockers. And Nagisa's hand found his neck. Then he was bending.

When Nagisa finally removed his lips from the taller teen's, he whispered soothingly, "So, you're coming with us then right?"

It was hardly surprising to anyone when Rei just nodded blankly.

Well, that was interesting. Not what he'd thought to see today, but then it wasn't all that surprising. He'd known Nagi had a thing for the guy for a while.

"Great!" Nagisa enthused, stepping back and away from the teen he'd just accosted but keeping one hand wrapped around the teen's wrist.

"Then we can go! I have the perfect place in mind. We'll need supplies for this!"

* * *

When Nagi had said he had someplace in mind, he'd thought his blonde haired friend had meant the grocery store.

But apparently not. Why? Because this was most definitely not the grocery store.

Although, they did seem to have candy. Strawberry flavored. That sounded good. Maybe he'd get some on the way out.

"You like strawberry. Don't you, Haru?"

When he nodded, Nagi grabbed a box of candy before grabbing him and leading him away, Rei still attached to his other hand.

_Water._

Nagi was forcing Rei to look at movies when he spotted it. He wouldn't be able to get wet, but it appealed to him still. The fluidity. The restless movement. The relentless ebb and flow as the shapes turned and formed in liquid heaven. It was really quite pretty.

"Haru! I think we have everything!" Nagi called to him.

"I'm not sure your friend is all there, "The guy behind the counter whispered to the blonde teen when Haru just stood there gazing so lovingly into the lava lamp.

"He's fine," Nagisa gave his most angelic smile, "He just gets distracted easily."

"Ah, well you boys have fun now."

Haru wondered why the store clerk was grinning at him like that when Nagi came over and drug him from the store. And was it just him, or did that guy just wink at him?

* * *

"Ok, we have everything we need to get started now!"

Rei was making odd noises. He kind of sounded like a dying animal. Or at least what he supposed a dying animal would sound like.

"Haru, are you ready?"

Haru nodded. He wouldn't disappoint Nagi even if he had no intention of watching whatever movie the teen had picked out.

"Ok, now pay attention, Haru. I'll explain as it goes along."

Haru turned obediently to stare at the screen. Rei shifted beside him. It didn't occur to him to wonder why he and Rei were kneeling on the floor in front of the couch instead of sitting on it with the blonde teen until the screen started churning out colors and sounds.

And then the thought he'd never had made sense, because he and Rei attempted to bolt at the same time, only to be unceremoniously pulled back down by the hands tangled in the backs of their shirts.

What the hell was this? There were people on screen, and they were… Naked…And doing…stuff…And the noises…

"Pay attention. I told you we were going to further your education, so let's begin. Shall we?"

Oh, God, no. Let's not begin. Let's leave. Let's go anywhere. Somewhere. Not here. Somewhere else.

"Haru. This is sex."

"And sex makes babies," Nagisa continued, giving the traumatized teens his sweetest smile when they looked at him.

"But only sometimes."

"And, sex," Nagi paused, "Can be really fun, so people like to do it. A lot."

"Now, let's move along, K?"

Nagi moved one leg forward to wrap around Rei's throat, keeping him in place while he grabbed the remote.

"Now, Haru, I want you to watch carefully, and you too Rei."

Rei gulped, a furious shade of red, when Nagisa gave him a brilliant smile.

Haru looked away from his evil, maniacal blonde tormentor. To the screen. Because where else was he to look?

He sighed in relief when he noticed everything was quiet and there were just two guys on screen now.

If they were talking, he couldn't hear what they were saying, so he wasn't expecting it when one of the guys suddenly dropped to his knees. Oh. Maybe he had to apologize for something.

And then the other guy was getting…getting…naked. They were in an office for heaven's sake!

Haru's eyes widened. The one guy was broken. He didn't look normal. You know. Down _there._

Rei groaned, burying his face against Nagi's leg, so he could no longer see the screen.

What were they doing? Mouths did _not_ go down there. What the hell were they doing?

"Haru, this is what you would call a blowjob."

A what? There didn't seem to be a lot of working going on in that office, and what were they blowing exactly? And _what_ were they doing?

Suddenly, the guy that was standing had the other guy bent over the desk. And then his pants hit the ground.

Nagisa watched, amused, when Haru's eyes widened again. This was how an education should be given. With visual examples. Then, there was absolutely no confusion.

"Haru, this is the point where you should have lube. Ok?"

What was that? For what? Why? What were they _doing_?

And then the guy with the broken thing was…Haru drew a blank. He had no idea what was going on anymore.

Rei was making strangled, whining noises against Nagi's leg, and Nagi was looking at him like he'd solved all the world's problems.

"And make sure Rin prepares you."

Prepares him for what?

"It could hurt if he doesn't."

What could hurt? _That_? Whatever it was. Rin wasn't doing that to him. He wasn't sure what that was, but it was not allowed. Not at all.

Haru closed his eyes trying to get rid of the images that had been dancing before his eyes, but it wasn't working. He could still hear them for one. They were making mewling, groaning sounds that he was pretty sure were not normal, and when the screaming started, he tried making another break for it.

It didn't work.

"Haru, you need to keep watching. It's not over yet."

Rei groaned.

Haru decided that this was more than he could handle. He needed water. He needed Rin. He needed Makoto. He needed pretty much anything or anyone that could get him out of here.

And then it was over.

Nagi finally let his hand fall from the back of Haru's shirt, handing the raven haired teen a white shopping bag to take with him on his frantic dash out the door, before turning to smile down at the tall, blushing teen on the floor.

Life was good.

* * *

Haru wanted to be home. Fast. Now. Two hours ago. Before _that._ Whatever it had been.

He didn't really pay attention to the things around him as he went. Turn here. Turn there. The farther he was from Nagi's house, the better off he'd be.

Home. He wanted to be there right now. He ran faster.

Finally, he slowed. Stopped. Raised one hand to knock.

_Knock?_

Why was he knocking? He had keys.

He wasn't home.

* * *

Rin had been talking to Nitori when the soft knock sounded at the door. Sighing loudly in annoyance, he wandered over to open it to see what kind of idiot would bother them this late at night.

When he opened the door, he was not expecting the traumatized, terrorized teen staring at him with wide, haunted eyes.

"Haru?" He asked softly, "What's wrong?"

And apparently, that was all it took to set him off because the next thing he knew, his boyfriend was rather fixedly attached.

"Uh, I think I'll…Go to the store," Nitori said, edging around the teens.

Rin nodded in thanks, pulling Haru through the door, so Nitori could close it on his way out.

"Haru, you need to tell me what happened."

Haru just shook his head where it was buried into the crook of his neck.

"Haru, come in and sit down."

Rin carefully led his trembling boyfriend to his bed, tugging him off so he could sit in the bed while he checked him over for injuries. When the raven haired teen appeared to be unharmed, he pushed him back and tucked him in beneath his sheets.

They stayed like that for quite some time before Haru finally drifted off to sleep, the hands that had been determinedly holding on to Rin's shirt finally easing enough for the red headed teen to untangle himself from the azure eyed boy.

"Uh, Rin, he dropped this. He might want it in the morning," Nitori told him gently, setting the white bag next to his bed.

Frowning, Rin grabbed the bag.

He blinked.

What the _hell?_

Grabbing his phone, Rin dialed the only person he could think of to blame.

"Hello?"

"Makoto," Rin growled dangerously, "Would you care to tell me why my traumatized boyfriend just showed up at my dorm with a sack that has..."

Pausing a minute to sift through the sack, Rin finally continued.

"A Sex for Beginners book, a couple of cheap porno movies, a bottle of lube, and…a box of strawberry flavored condoms?"

"He what?" Makoto wailed through the phone, "I'm going to strangle Nagi!"

Rin wasn't sure what exactly came after that, but the next thing he heard sounded vaguely like, "Where the heck was Rei during all this?"

"What does Nagi have to do with this?"

"I left Haru with him and Rei this afternoon. I tried to explain things to Haru, but then they showed up, and I don't know, but I'm going to kill them!"

Well, since he felt the same way, there wasn't really much he could say.

Hopefully whatever they'd done hadn't scarred his poor boyfriend for life.

_Oh, Haru. _

What did you get yourself into?

He'd have to wait until morning to find out because there was no way he was waking the kid up now. Sighing softly, Rin silently thanked his roommate's thoughtfulness at not saying anything before slipping into bed, wrapping the raven haired teen in his arms.

Whatever else happened, there was one thing he knew for sure…

It was going to be a long night.

* * *

**Author's note:** So, how'd you like it? I know I had said I'd take a break for a few days, but I'm over my mood now. Anyhow, let me know what you think and if you enjoyed it!

Love you guys!

MonMon: Hope you like this chappie too. I tried to go for humor with it, so you'll have to let me know how I did.

Everyone else: Lol, I love you guys. When you guys review, it makes it so much easier to write. I love y'alls funny little comments so much. Anyhow, I hope it lives up to everyone's expectations! Until next time!


	31. Chapter 31

**Note from the author: I do not own in any way, shape or form, the anime, manga or any of the characters from Free!**

* * *

"I'll let everyone know you weren't feeling well this morning," Nitori whispered quietly, trying to keep from waking the restless teen lying in bed with his roommate.

He wanted to say he was surprised. About Rin. About his boyfriend. But he wasn't. It would be hard not to have seen it coming considering he'd how he'd found them the last time the raven haired teen had been over.

"Thank you," Rin replied.

Nitori smiled at the gentle way his red headed friend's hands slid through the raven hair, brushing soothingly whenever the other teen shifted.

Rin was nicer, in his own way, than he had been before. Before what, he hadn't known for sure until now.

* * *

Haru woke up instantly. Usually, when the world first intruded on his consciousness, it took him a while to figure out what was going on. He'd blink groggily as he stared at his ceiling, think about the peacefulness of the bath he'd soon be taking, and then eventually, he'd stretch languidly before rolling out of bed.

Not today.

Today, he shot straight up. Why? Because. Because he wasn't sure where he was or who was here or what they were doing.

It took him a minute, but he finally managed to recognize the room he was in. Rin's. He was at Rin's.

Rolling over, Haru tumbled out of bed, the sheets tangled around his feet. Groaning a little, he stood up, tossing the sheet back on the bed, then wandered to the bathroom, peeking inside to look for Rin.

He sighed gratefully when he realized he was alone.

Shower. He needed a shower. He doubted Rin would mind. But he didn't have any clothes here.

After debating with himself for a few minutes, Haru finally gave up and dug around through Rin's dresser, pulling out a pair of sweatpants and a shirt, before going to the bathroom and, carefully, locking the door behind him.

* * *

Haru felt a lot better after his shower. Much more relaxed. He hadn't slept well last night. He'd been way too wound up after his traumatizing evening with Nagi and Rei.

He spared a moment's thought for Rei. He almost felt for the guy. He'd probably had to stay the night at Nagi's last night, and if his evening continued as it had started, he doubted that it had been pleasant for the other boy.

Rin still wasn't back. He wondered where the other boy had gone. Deciding he'd wait on the red haired teen, Haru crawled back into bed and settled down for a nap.

He was just about to drop off to sleep when the door opened. He cracked one eye open for a peek, but he didn't see anything, so he snuggled down under the covers.

Warm air ghosted across the part of his face still open to the outside. He blinked. Nothing was there.

Rolling over to snuggle down again, he came face to face with Rin.

Who was grinning.

_Uh oh._

He was just about to scramble out of bed when Rin's hands shot out to push him back down. He didn't even have time to draw in a mouthful of air before the other teen's lips were on his, and his hand was shifting blankets and clothes out of the way to trace against skin.

Why was it that every time this happened, he got so hot?

Rin's mouth worked against his own as his hands traced burning lines up and down his torso before dipping down beneath the hem of his pants.

And then Haru couldn't breathe. Why? Two reasons. One. Rin was touching. There. Where he most definitely shouldn't be. And two. Rin was on top of him. And he was heavy.

Haru tried to struggle, but the best he could do was get Rin to stop touching…there. Which only helped until Rin pressed forward with his hips instead.

The strangled whine that sounded through the room had not come from his throat. There was no way.

"Haru?"

And then he was shaking.

* * *

"Haru, wake up," Rin called, shaking the groaning teen gently.

The sounds that had started coming from his sweet, innocent boyfriend's throat were killing him, and he was pretty sure he knew what Haru was dreaming about.

When Haru finally showed him his startled, sleepy eyes, Rin breathed a sigh of relief.

"Rin?"

"Yeah, I'm here," He smiled at the confused teen.

"It's hot."

"Oh, sorry. I didn't want you to get cold so I tucked you in earlier," he told the other boy, shifting blankets to make his friend more comfortable.

"Rin?"

"Yeah, Haru?"

"I think I'm broken."

_Huh?_

"You're hurt? Where?" Rin asked, now frantically moving the blanket aside, a task not easily accomplished considering the way it was completely wrapped around the azure eyed teen.

Terrified hands ghosted across Haru's body searching for an injury he'd missed last night. Every new piece of his boyfriend was carefully inspected. And he finally found the problem.

It just wasn't what he'd been expecting.

* * *

Haru groaned when Rin's hands brushed across his front. He'd never been like this in his life. How is it that just watching that _movie_ had made him break like that one guy on the tv?

"Haru, you need…a shower!"

_What_?

Was that even supposed to make sense? How did that fix his problem?

But, Rin apparently seemed to think it would help because he dragged him from bed and ushered him towards the bathroom.

* * *

He was going to die. That's all there was to it.

"Uh, I'll just…turn around, and you…strip and get in the shower."

"But, Rin, I think I need a doctor."

"Trust me. You don't need a doctor."

"But…" Rin interrupted him.

"Haru, what exactly did Nagi do to you yesterday?"

He wanted to talk about that now? Haru was dying. He was broken, and it was hot enough that he was pretty sure he was running a fever, and Rin wanted to talk about Nagi. Seriously?

"We went shopping. He made me watch this movie," Haru ground out as he stripped.

"What kind of movie?"

How was that important?

"Just a movie. They did stuff. Weird stuff. I don't know how to explain it."

* * *

_Oh, God._

Kill him now. He didn't _need_ Haru to explain it. He already knew.

How is it that three people somehow managed to get involved in explaining sex to his boyfriend, and the only thing he gets coming out the other side is that being turned on is equivalent to being broken and needing a doctor? Could someone please explain that to him?

"Rin? Why did I need to get in the shower again?"

"Uh, turn the water on cold. Really cold."

And save some cold water for him because heaven help him, he was going to need it.

"Why?"

"Just do it."

The squeak of the turning knobs echoed in the bathroom. Rin stayed silent for a few minutes, hoping he could wait it out.

"Uh, Rin, how long do I have to stay like this?" Haru asked him, teeth chattering.

"Are you still…broken?"

"Yeah."

That would have been too easy.

"Um, try thinking about something really, really, awful, ok? Like the worst thing in the world. Something you'd never want to see."

* * *

Awful?

No water at his house. No swimming pool. No ocean. No water anywhere in the world.

Why was he doing this again?

* * *

Rin knew it was too much to hope for that he could solve Haru's problem like that, but he still felt his soul crack in two and tumble in shattered pieces to the ground when he heard Haru's voice again.

"Rin? What's this supposed to do?"

"Help, uh, fix you."

"It's not working."

Well, shit. He was running out of ideas that kept him on this side of the curtain.

"Haru?"

"Yeah, try, uh…"

Was he seriously going to say this out loud?

"Try…"

"Damn it, Rin, either spit it out or take me to a doctor!"

"Try putting your hand…there…around it and…you know…"

He so couldn't do this. This was why Mako was supposed to explain things in the first place.

"If I knew, do you think I'd be waiting for you to tell me?" The frustrated growl echoed over the sounds of running water.

"Move it. Your hand. Uh…just move it."

He knew Haru had it figured out when the raven haired teen gasped.

"I'll just..uh…be outside…I'll see you outside when you're…done."

"Rin!"

What now? He really had to get out of here before the kid killed him.

"What?" His tone was sharper than he intended, but seriously, he wasn't a saint. Not yet at least.

"How do I know when I'm done?" The childish whine nearly had him heading back towards his boyfriend before he remembered all the reasons it was a bad idea.

"Uh, you'll know. Trust me. You will. Just keep…doing that…until…you know."

Rin firmly shut the door to the bathroom before he could hear anything else the other teen might have to say or...yeah, just anything else…

* * *

When Haru finally walked out of the bathroom, thankfully dressed, a while later, Rin started thanking his lucky stars and everything else he could think of.

"Haru, I think we need to talk."

He was going to do this. Really? Was he, seriously?

He needed help. Mental help. Emotional help. Psychological help. Honestly, whatever kind of help was available. He needed it now.

"I wasn't broken, was I?"

The resigned, slightly hysterical question floored him.

"No, Haru, you weren't."

Rin paused.

"Maybe…Maybe you should sit down," He gestured to the bed, making his way for it as well before deciding better of it and veering off to pull out his desk chair.

It was going to be a long day. He had just one question for the world before he started. Was there anything more saintly in the world than a saint?

If there was…

_He was applying._

* * *

**Author's note:** These chapters just write themselves atm, so I'm going to wait for a bit between chapters for people to review then I'll post the next one. I'll prolly try and hold myself to one a day, just cuz I like hearing from you guys.

Love you and hope y'all like it! See you next time!

HavenRose: Lol, I loved that review. I have no idea why, but I couldn't stop cracking up.

Kuriboh: Whoops! But it is a Simply Touching story, and I never said what emotion (or person) it was going to touch. :P Although, I did try to refrain from actually giving any of my readers their first foray into sex education, so I tried not to be too graphic. Actually, as my roommate said, if you're an innocent minded person, you wouldn't get most of what I wrote last time. And of course, FF is known for having sooo many innocent minded people.

hitachiin: Hehe, you just thought you were embarrassed, think about Rin and Haru after this chapter.

Fox: And somehow, Nagi managed to keep a straight face through the whole thing. I find that to be most impressive, don't you?

Nana: I feel for you. I do. I fortunately live with a roommate who giggles crazily at random times, so I get it from your roommates' perspective, but then I do it too, so I know what she's doing. XD Hopefully, this chappie and the next couple too will make you even crazier in their eyes.

Kakashi's Mistress: Thanks! I'm not seeing any actual use of the strawberry 'candy' too soon, but we'll see about eventually.

Happy: Lol, I knew that actually, but I wasn't sure if teenagers would, since I'd never heard that particular term until I went to college. I will say college gave me an education, but it wasn't just in my subject material. Geez, I'd never known there were such dirty minded people in the world. I was soo innocent. It's actually pretty funny in retrospect.

MiniMochi: As sad as it is to inform you, I will not be writing about Rei and Nagi or their relationship except maybe brief snippets. Now, that being said, before you get too sad, the reason I won't is because I love that pairing, and when I finally finish this story, whenever that may be, I'm going to do another one that parallels it with Rei and Nagi, starting...Dun dun dun...You guessed it! From Nagi's living room where poor Rei is sitting with Nagi's leg wrapped around his neck, unable to move, unable to leave...you get the picture.

FallenAngel: I saved you for last because I want to say thank you. Every time you review, you always have so much to say that even when I'm in a bad, sad, or just not feeling the writing kind of mood, reading your review always makes it better. I managed to get past the mood I figured it would take a few days to get over the moment I read what you'd written, and honestly, the last few chapters were only made possible by you. I love hearing from everyone, but I can't say I love you enough for how much time you take to tell me how you felt about my story.

Thanks to all my reviews, and I hope you enjoy this chapter! Let me know how it went!

Love you guys,

-Daya


	32. Chapter 32

**Note from the author: I do not own in any way, shape or form, the anime, manga or any of the characters from Free!**

* * *

His life hated him. There wasn't much else that could be said besides that when the world was out there conspiring to make him explain the birds and the bees to his own boyfriend.

"Why did it do _that_ then?" Haru asked, looking off to the side, red shadowing across the curves of his face.

"Uh…that happens when you…get…turned on."

"Like an oven?"

_Huh?_

"What about an oven?"

"Turned on. Is it like an oven?"

What? How did that even make sense?

"Erm, no. Turned on like…it means…you have feelings."

"Of course I have feelings. I am human," Haru glared at him.

Good lord, someone shoot him now.

"_Sexual_ feelings."

"Oh."

"Like when you…get aroused…yeah…"

Rin paused trying to decide how in depth this had to be. He really just wanted this conversation to be over with.

"And when you're like that, you can have…sex."

Haru interrupted.

"Can we not talk about that?"

"Uh, I think we really ought to," Rin finally responded.

If it were up to him, no, they wouldn't be talking about it, but it was better to get it out of the way now.

"Nagi…showed you those movies, right?"

Haru nodded, his face burning.

"Did you…have any…questions?"

It would be too much to hope for that he'd understood it all, right?

Yes. Yes it would.

"There was this one guy…"

Rin nodded at the raven haired teen that it was ok to ask.

"He was doing things…to the other guy."

Not a question, and since he hadn't watched the movie, he had no idea what the kid was talking about.

"What kind of things?"

"He was…on the desk…and…"

Rin got it when Haru glanced down before nervously letting his eyes dart around the room.

Ah.

"They were having sex."

"But…"

Whatever Haru had wanted to say, he never got out, so Rin was left with no choice but to fill in the silence.

"What were you dreaming about, Haru?"

He actually really did want to know the answer to this one.

"Uh…"

The azure eyed teen glanced at him nervously before looking off to the side, refusing to meet his gaze.

Rin smiled toothily. Suddenly, his day was looking up just a bit.

"Rin?"

"Yeah, Haru?"

Rin waited.

And waited.

And…waited…

* * *

"What's a boyfriend?"

Maybe he should have asked that question before now, but better late than never.

He'd thought he knew. He'd known girls that had boyfriends, so it couldn't be that different, right? But, now, he had this feeling that he hadn't quite understood as well as he'd thought.

For those girls, boyfriends were…They…

_Spent time together._

He liked spending time with Rin.

_Held hands._

They hadn't done that, but he wouldn't really mind if they did.

_Hugged._

Rin was warm. He liked being held in the red headed teen's arms.

_Kissed._

It was…nice. A little different, but still nice.

And that was it. Right?

* * *

Rin blinked.

He hadn't expected that question. Looking at the situation, perhaps he should have. They'd barely begun their relationship, and Haru didn't even know what it was he'd agreed to.

Sighing, he felt the lead weight of despair settle across his shoulders.

They'd be over before they'd even begun. When he understood, Haru probably wouldn't even want to be near him.

This was so screwed up, and he couldn't even blame anyone but himself. He should have known Haru would never agree to a relationship with him if he'd known what one was.

He probably just thought they were friends.

Looking at Haru, he couldn't picture being the other teen's friend. It hurt. The idea of staying by his side, laughing and having fun, as friends, didn't even seem possible. It would kill him.

And that was how Haru saw him.

And Haru's dreams, if they had even been about him to begin with, were all because of Nagi and that damn movie. And he'd only, possibly, starred in it because he'd been spending so much time with the raven haired boy.

This wasn't fair. To him. He wanted to hold on to the other teen, but…that wouldn't be fair to Haru.

_Haru._

The boy who saw him as a friend.

The kid who was looking at him, confusion swirling in the depths of his ocean eyes.

So this was what if felt like…

When you were one moment away..

From...

_Goodbye._

* * *

**Author's note:** Soooo, who saw this coming?

I know this chapter's a little shorter, but I don't have time to write a longer one today. I will try to find time to write some tonight, but the next update may not be until tomorrow night. Love you guys! P.S. Let me know what you think!

297.1: I was writing this chapter when I got your review, and I couldn't figure out if it meant you wanted me to torture and make you wait for a chapter or hurry and upload a new one. Hopefully, I chose the right one!

Uppermost: Thanks for reviewing! I'm so glad you like it!

Violently: Lol. I understand exactly what you mean, and it is exactly like that.

KaZe: There must be torture. Without it, the story ends.

Qwerty: Hehe, giggles for everyone! I like giggles.

Ren Chan: I like seals. They're my favorites! As for the cabbage patch, I'm not sure where that particular explanation came from if that's what you're asking. I just know it was something some of my friends' parents told them when we were kids.

MiniMochi: Don't feel rude. Always feel free to ask me anything, and if you don't want to put in a review, you could always PM me. ^.^

And thanks to all my other reviewers! I'm glad I could make you guys giggle, and maybe now, my story can stay in its humor genre. XD


	33. Chapter 33

**Note from the author: I do not own in any way, shape or form, the anime, manga or any of the characters from Free!**

* * *

Rin wasn't moving. He was just sitting there, staring at him.

He looked. Sad. Devastated. Like he'd finally gotten everything he'd ever wanted and someone had just dropped by to take it all away.

"Boyfriends are…A boyfriend is…" Rin struggled with his words, each syllable seemed to be forced from the red head's throat.

"You…date them. To…see if you'll get along…For a long time…And if you like them enough, you…always stay by their side. And, yes, eventually, you'd probably have…sex with them."

Haru nodded. He'd thought so.

"Rin?"

"Yes, Haru?"

Why did Rin sound so resigned? Did he really not want to answer any more questions? He was the one who had said they needed to talk in the first place.

"So, when you said you wanted to date and…be my boyfriend, you meant you wanted to do this…stuff? The stuff we were…just…talking about?"

* * *

And now it was over. Haru finally understood. There was no point in pretending anymore. No point in hoping it could somehow turn out ok.

"I think you should go, Haru."

"What?"

The confused expression almost did him in, but he needed Haru gone. He needed to figure out how to live without him again.

There was that saying, it is better to have loved and lost than to have never loved at all, but he didn't agree. Maybe it worked if that love was returned. If there'd ever been a point where you'd been mutually happy together, but…

He and Haru hadn't been. They hadn't even been on the same page. Haru thought he was some strange version of a friend, and as for the azure eyed teen, well, he loved that idiotic, dense, water-loving moron.

And it hurt.

A lot.

* * *

Go? Why did he need to go?

Rin was supposed to answer the question. Did that mean he didn't see him…_that _way?

Was that bad?

Yes. It probably was. He was pretty sure he saw Rin that way. It wasn't fair if Rin didn't feel the same.

But…feelings could change, right? Even if Rin said no, they could still date, and maybe Rin could see him that way. Someday.

Although, he wasn't sure that he knew how to make Rin feel like that for him, but maybe he could try. Someday. When he was…ready.

"Rin?"

* * *

The confusion just made things worse. Why couldn't Haru just listen to him? Why couldn't he just stop being a dense idiot for a few minutes and figure out how much he was hurting him?

"Leave. Now," Rin practically snarled when Haru just sat there, on his bed, staring at him like he was the one in the wrong.

When the other teen still didn't move, Rin stalked forward, pulling Haru off the bed, before unceremoniously opening his door, shoving the other teen out into the hallway, and slamming the door in his face.

* * *

Haru stood there.

He wasn't entirely sure what had just happened, but…

Did Rin just…

Kick him out?

When he was the one who'd wanted to have that chat in the first place?

What happened to 'you can ask me anything, Haru?'

Now, he was just pissed off.

What right did Rin have to do that to him? To make him ask things he wouldn't normally then shove him out into the hallway like some unwanted piece of trash?

He had some thinking to do. Because…Because _this_ was just not acceptable.

And Rin would need to apologize. Or he couldn't forgive him. And then they couldn't continue their conversation.

And he wanted to, so Rin was going to apologize.

Whether he liked it or not.

And he had better do it soon.

Very soon.

Or…

Haru was going to get…

Very…

Very..

Very.

_Mad._

* * *

Rin groaned when he turned the shower on, the cold water streaming down his back. He was an idiot. He shouldn't have treated Haru like that, but it was the only thing he could think of to do. He should apologize.

Or maybe not.

After all, he'd already decided they couldn't just be friends, hadn't he? If he apologized, the raven haired teen would probably forgive him and would expect things to go back to how they had been, but he, poor him, would be left in limbo, next to the object of his affections, close enough to touch, but never allowed to do so.

He'd die. It would kill him. It hurt. He hurt.

Stupid, stupid, Haru.

It wasn't fair.

He'd been prepared for the sex ed talk, as much as anyone can be prepared for that, but the rest… Who could prepare for that?

Who in their right mind expects to have to tell their own boyfriend that yes, someday, they did want to do, as Haru termed it, _those_ things with him?

Wasn't there some rule about how much torture and torment any single person should be forced to endure in a given week?

Apparently not.

And it sucked.

Sighing, Rin turned the water off. The silence of the bathroom echoed.

Was it possible he'd been in here with Haru just an hour or so ago?

How had so much gone wrong in such a short period of time?

Rin ambled into his bedroom, sinking down onto his bed. He could take a nap. There wasn't much else he could do today. Nitori had already told everyone he was sick, so it'd be a little weird if he suddenly showed up.

Laying down, it seemed like he'd barely closed his eyes when a knock sounded at his door.

_Shit._

Someone had come to check on him. He hoped it was just Nitori. If it was, when he didn't answer, he'd just go away.

Rolling over, Rin ignored the light tapping in favor of studying the wall.

The knocking stopped.

He closed his eyes, ready to drop off to sleep again.

More knocking, louder this time.

When it didn't stop like it had before, he started twitching.

What kind of person acted like this when they were checking up on a supposedly sick person anyhow? Were they seriously this stupid? If it was Nitori, he'd never have been so rude, mainly since he knew Rin wasn't sick to begin with, and anyone else really should have had the decency to acknowledge that a sick person might not _feel_ like answering the door.

Damn idiot.

Growling, Rin finally gave up, rolling out of bed before stalking towards the door and jerking it open.

* * *

"So was that a yes then?"

It was a little amusing. Rin looked ready to lay into someone, and apparently finding him at the door had thrown the teen for a loop.

Rin's mouth opened and closed, but nothing came out. Rin. Speechless. Well, would you look at that.

"If you don't say anything, I'm going to take it as a yes."

Silence.

"Well, alright then," He smiled serenely, sending one hand to catch the red headed teen's shirt, pulling him forward.

When he finally pulled away, Rin was panting, and oddly enough, so was he.

* * *

Blank.

His mind was completely and utterly blank.

How had he ended up here again?

Nothing about this really made sense.

But…

He wasn't sure he wanted to question it.

But he should. He knew he should.

He opened his mouth to say…something. Anything.

"For the record, if I did that kind of…stuff…with anyone, I think I'd want it to be you."

Well then. Since that was…out of the way…

He could put his mouth to better use elsewhere.

* * *

When Rin finally let him come up for air, Haru pushed the other teen back, so he could shut the door.

* * *

Haru was looking at him, and it made him want to… apologize for…something.

"Rin."

It wasn't a question, but he felt oddly desperate to answer anyhow.

"Yeah?"

Haru's hand toyed with the hair at the base of his neck.

"Don't push me out the door again."

He could manage that one. Especially if he got another kiss.

A breath away from the other teen's lips, and the hand at his nape tightened, making him pause.

He raised a brow in question, confused.

"It was rude."

Rin blinked, startled, an apology on the tip of his tongue.

Then Haru kissed him.

* * *

**Author's note:** Hehe, I made you guys wait. I'm only mildly evil now, though, right? XD

KaZe: I hate to say it, but as long as two people reside in the same general vicinity, it is inevitable that there will be misunderstandings. :P

FallenAngel: Did I fix the hurts?

Stella: Lol, that makes me really happy actually. Do you friends happen to have a favorite part? I'd be interested to know what you guys like the most in the last few chapters.

G: Your fluff is here.

JustOneMoreDay: I'm glad you're enjoying it!

Niik: Lol, I do the blanket thing sometimes too. I'm glad you like it so far, and I'll try to have many more entertaining moments for you in the future.

Thanks to all my reviewers! Hope you guys enjoyed this update! Let me know what you think, and see you next time! Love you guys!

-Daya


	34. Chapter 34

**Note from the author: I do not own in any way, shape or form, the anime, manga or any of the characters from Free!**

* * *

This was…nice.

Rin was here, and he was behaving for the time being. A plus in Haru's book.

The kiss he'd started had long since expired only to be replaced with a few dozen more in its absence.

He didn't mind. It was nice. Warm. He felt…

_Happy._

* * *

Rin had Haru firmly pressed against the door of his room, his mouth playing gently with the azure eyed teen in his arms.

A kiss. Another breathless sigh. Panting gasps for air.

A wet caress across the teen's throat. Hands fisted in his shirt, alternating between pushing him away and pulling him closer.

This was bliss. Having Haru. Here. With him. Wanting him. Even if it wasn't quite how Rin himself wanted the other teen yet. Someday. Someday, Haru would want him like that. Until then, he could live with this.

* * *

"Rin."

Rin continued kissing his way across the expanse of skin at his throat.

"Rin."

His rival ignored him again.

"Rin."

When Rin continued to ignore him, Haru gave up.

* * *

Rin was surprised when the teen that had been standing so complacently in his arms began moving, leaving him little choice but to stumble in response as the boy practically walked him backward before pushing him down on the bed.

When Haru crawled on top of him, his mouth went dry, and he couldn't have spoken to save his life. Fortunately, if one could call it fortune, he didn't have to.

Haru reached one hand past his head, grabbing his phone and looking at the name on the front before flipping it open, listening intently to the voice on the other side.

* * *

"Rin's busy at the moment."

"Oh, Nanase," Nitori trailed off, surprised, "Could you give him a message for me? I guess it's actually for both of you anyhow."

Haru nodded before realizing the grey headed teen wouldn't see.

"Yes."

"Mikoshiba, umm…that's our Captain. He said he was going to come check on Rin at lunch. I just…wanted to warn you guys."

"I'll let him know," Haruka responded about to close the phone then decided against it, "Thanks."

* * *

"Your Captain is coming to check on you during lunch," Haru told him, shutting the phone and tossing it on the bed, all while maintaining his position draped across Rin.

"Uh…Lunch?"

Why was this important again? Because honestly, at the moment, the fact Haru was sitting on him was the focal point of his existence.

"What…time is it again?" He was finally able to get the words out, but not seconds later, he was cursing himself for it as Haru turned where he was to look for a clock.

Rin clamped his teeth shut against the moan that attempted to leave his throat.

"Almost noon."

Uh…noon…this was important.

He was sure of it.

Why was his boyfriend trying to kill him?

Did he seriously have to keep moving like that?

Noon. Yes. This was important…

_Oh, shit._

* * *

To say he was startled to find himself abruptly deposited on the floor would have been a lie. He had almost been expecting it.

"It's noon. That's lunchtime," Rin told him frantically dashing around, grabbing things as he found them.

And, apparently, he was supposed to care about that for some reason.

Haru watched, amused, as Rin darted around, scribbling a note then chunking it at his roommate's desk before sliding into his shoes.

He even had the door open before he realized that he'd be leaving alone if he left right then.

"Haru, we have to go. Now."

When he didn't move quickly enough for his red haired friend, he found himself hauled to his feet and dragged out the door, before being towed like an unreasonable child off the campus.

"Was there a point to all that?" Haru finally growled when Rin collapsed on a bench a few streets from the school.

"Mikoshiba was coming. At lunch. To check on me."

Yeah. And?

His thoughts must have been easy enough to read from his face because Rin continued without further prompting.

"As in, he was coming to my room. Where he would have found you. And me. The sick person, who isn't actually sick, and another guy, making out."

_Oh._

* * *

"So now what?"

Rin wanted to bang his head. Sometimes, he really loved Haru's naivety, but it did make it difficult considering they did still have to survive in the real world.

On the other hand, he was sick, and Nitori knew he wouldn't be back until Sunday.

* * *

Haru would have backed away from the red haired teen when he began grinning if it hadn't been for the hand that shot out to grasp his wrist, pulling him into the other teen.

"Why don't we go out."

"We're already out."

"On a date," Rin clarified, his toothy smirk spreading further across his face.

"D..d…date?"

Haru was mortified by how squeaky his voice seemed when he finally forced the word past his lips.

"Yes. A date. You know. That thing that people do when they're dating."

He should have been irritated by the patronizing tone of voice, but he was having a hard time paying attention considering the awkward way he'd fallen against the other teen still sitting on the bench. His only saving grace, and the only reason he didn't tumble to the ground, was the tanned hand that had come to rest across his lower back.

* * *

"Um..sure. We should go. Now."

It was cute, the way Haru tried to squirm out of his hold. And it was made even better by merit of the fact that the raven haired teen nearly landed himself on the ground despite his own best efforts to hold the teen up.

And if you were to ask why it was better, the answer would be very simple.

Because sweet, honorable, gentlemanly boyfriend that he was, there was no way he could allow his beloved to end up on the floor.

_No matter what._

* * *

Haru finally managed to get back on his feet and a decent distance away from his boyfriend, but even as he followed the red headed teen to wherever it was he had in mind, he couldn't force the blush off his face.

And he could still feel the shape of Rin's hands where they'd been pressed against the curves of his butt.

_He was screwed._

* * *

**Author's Note: ** Hi guys! I'm really sorry I've been away for so long. I've spent most of that time sick from migraines, but hopefully I'll stop having them now. (I quit caffeine, which was what was giving them to me in the first place.) Anyhow, I hope you guys are still out there and interested in the story. I wanted to get a quick teaser chapter out tonight, and I should have the next chapter up tomorrow as scheduled! Love you guys, and thanks to all the reviewers for the last chapter. I appreciated all the support when I got back from being sick!


	35. Chapter 35

**Note from the author: I do not own in any way, shape or form, the anime, manga or any of the characters from Free!**

* * *

It was strangely quiet. He'd expected there to be a lot of screaming and a bunch of little kids running around shrieking in delight. There weren't though.

They weren't alone. Not by any means. There were some other people scattered in clumps meandering across the grounds in small groups or in couples like the two of them, but they were mostly older people. Some college kids. Older couples. A mother and her young baby.

It was odd. Nice, but odd.

It'd been years since he'd been to an amusement park, but he hadn't expected his next trip to seem so surreal. So weird. He always remembered it as being noisy and crowded with too many people for comfort.

And everything had been too…something. Too hot. Lines too long. Too many people. Kids too loud. And too many rules.

_Haru don't put your hand in the water. It's dirty._

_Sorry, Son. You're too small to ride that one._

_Hey, Kid! Keep your hands in the boat._

Now he remembered why he'd stopped letting his parents drag him off to places like this. He never had fun, and he doubted this time would be different, but he'd do his best to pretend.

_For Rin._

* * *

"Haru?" Rin grinned at the sulking teen standing next to him.

He already knew the other teen didn't think this would be any fun. But it would be. He'd see. Because there was no way he was letting his boyfriend walk away without enjoying himself.

Maybe he'd even see him smile.

* * *

"How about that one?"

Haru glanced to where Rin was pointing. Nodding his head, he acquiesced, not because he thought he'd enjoy it, but because it seemed like Rin would.

* * *

Rin laughed at the looks the two of them were getting when they entered the empty ride usually favored by children of the shorter variety. It was one of those airplane type rides that had fake controls for children to 'drive' the planes as they flew through the air, but Rin had rather different reasons for dragging his reluctant friend into the plane's cockpit.

For starters…

* * *

As the ride started, Haru expected to be bored. It's not like this ride could be all that interesting. It went around in circles. Until it stopped. The end. There wasn't even any water.

But Rin wanted to ride it, so…

And then, he was moving.

Sideways.

Into Rin.

Who only grinned wolfishly before sliding his arm around him.

* * *

Ah, centripetal force. You had to love it.

This was physics at its finest.

And Haru at his.

* * *

When Rin's hand slid along the skin just beneath his shirt, he shot the other teen what he hoped was a quelling glare.

Unfortunately, it didn't work out quite like he'd planned.

A polite cough sounded off to his right, and when Rin finally released him, Haru couldn't hold back the bright red from his face when he looked into the grinning face of the ride attendant.

* * *

"We'll do this one next, Haru," Rin told the blushing teen, guiding him firmly towards the log ride.

Haru would enjoy this one if for no other reason than it had water.

Although…

He hoped it wasn't the _only_ reason the kid liked it.

* * *

This was moderately better.

There was water. That was a plus. It was kind of slow though. And boring. After all, the attendant had gotten onto him when he'd stuck his hand in the water, so it wasn't that great.

To see but not to touch. It kind of sucked actually.

* * *

"Haru?"

Haru turned his head to look at him but didn't venture a response.

"Are you having fun yet?"

When the teen shrugged, Rin couldn't help himself.

"It's the water, isn't it?"

Reaching one hand out, he skimmed the very tip of his index finger across the surface of the shadow darkened blue leaving a splattering of little waves in his wake.

Rin grinned at the sight of the azure eyed teen sitting across from him, entranced by the sight of his hand as it patterned new designs in liquid bliss.

And when he withdrew his hand, Haru's eyes followed the movement, not the water's but his.

* * *

It was…Warm again.

And the watery trail Rin's finger left as it skimmed and painted designs on the red headed teen's toned stomach made him ache.

He didn't even realize it when his own hand started inching forward to continue painting across the canvas of skin before him.

* * *

Rin held his breath as he waited for Haru to take over where he'd left off after hiking up his shirt just enough to play his game.

When the raven haired teen slid one hand across his stomach, demolishing Rin's own watery designs in favor of his own, he was in heaven.

Sadly, he wasn't able to control the small shudder that swept his body as the teen's fingers danced over his skin, and the action brought Haru back to himself. The hand withdrew, and Rin didn't know if he should be happy he'd made the teen forget himself enough to be drawn into the game or sad that it was over.

He settled for both.

* * *

It was hot. Actually hot. Because the sun was shining. Not because he'd been…so close to Rin earlier.

"Ice cream," He said only the two words before veering off to the vendor he'd just spotted.

* * *

Rin didn't push the teen when he wanted to pay for the dessert. He'd bought the entrance tickets, and if it made Haru feel like he had a little control to buy a snack, then he wasn't going to argue.

He was, however, going to argue with the way the other teen was eating. He kept getting distracted, looking off at whatever sound he found diverting at the time, and when he finally remembered to eat his ice cream before it completely melted, it was only after it had already started dripping down his arm.

Which was how Rin ended up sitting, very uncomfortably, next to his boyfriend as he licked his way across his own skin.

He was mesmerized. It seemed like a rather stupid thought, but he couldn't think of any other way to describe the sensation. He literally couldn't look away, and his breath caught each time Haru's pink tongue slid across tanned skin in pursuit of the sticky sweetness.

"Rin, your ice cream is melting."

He wanted to taste the other teen now. Not that he hadn't before, but now it was a very pressing _need_.

* * *

He'd tried. He really had. He'd told him.

And now the red headed idiot was about to get very, very sticky.

Sighing, Haru decided it was up to him to give the moron a wakeup call before he ended up wearing the dessert he'd just bought the teen. Besides, he really did like strawberry, so it seemed like such a shame to stand by and watch it go to waste.

* * *

Rin's mouth went dry when the head of raven hair he'd just been admiring leaned towards him, one hand coming to rest on the bench between his legs and pink tongue darting out to circle around the droplets of liquid sweetness hanging from the edge of the cone he held in his hand.

When Haru pulled away, Rin pulled him back.

The teen tasted as sweet as he'd anticipated.

* * *

Grumbling, Haru washed his hands off in the water fountain they'd finally managed to find.

Stupid Rin. He just had to keep doing that.

Kissing wasn't bad, but it didn't have to be so…public.

* * *

When Haru stepped away for him to rinse his own hands, he couldn't control the little devil that made him do it.

* * *

He was going to kill the red headed nightmare that he'd stupidly agreed to hang out with today.

He was soaking wet, which he wasn't really all that concerned about, but it was annoying because he hadn't expected the teen to spray him at all.

And he had no way to get him back.

It wasn't _fair._

And worse than that, now he was stuck 'drying out' on some stupid kiddy ride.

* * *

This was going to be fun. Haru was a little peeved about riding the teacup ride, but as far as he was concerned, the kiddy ride was full of possibilities.

Fun possibilities to be precise.

Starting with…

* * *

Haru jumped when the teen he'd been doing his best to ignore slid to the floor of the gently whirling ride.

Looking into his friend's deep, devilish red eyes, he couldn't help the trickle of fear that slithered down his spine. He was in so much trouble. And worst of all, he wasn't even sure he thought that was a bad thing anymore.

It was probably a good thing that there weren't any children here today. He was pretty sure Rin wasn't really keeping things G rated. In fact, he was positive. Particularly because Rin appeared to be trying to suck the water out of his shirt with his mouth.

The wet, suckling noises the teen was making were making him extremely uneasy, and he was sure his face was somewhere past a third degree sunburn shade of red.

And when the teen found one small, pebbled nipple through his shirt, well…

Life suddenly got a lot more uncomfortable.

* * *

**Author's note:** Sorry for the late update! I never did get around to this yesterday, but I hope it was worth the wait. As for the headaches, they are completely gone now, so no worries on those anymore. I should however warn you guys that I just started school where I'm pursuing a doctoral degree, so there may be some days here and there where I have to pop out suddenly without notice for conferences or other things that my professors want me to do. Hope you guys all understand!

Thanks to all my wonderful reviewers! I've missed you all sooooo much!


	36. Chapter 36

**Note from the author: I do not own in any way, shape or form, the anime, manga or any of the characters from Free!**

* * *

When the giant yellow teacup they were sitting in finally stopped swirling, Rin was sitting innocently on the seat beside him, buckled in like a good child, when the ride attendant came to usher them off.

But Rin was not a good child. He was actually bad. Very bad.

So when Haru finally set feet on firm, non-spinning, ground again, he headed straight for the nearest restroom to repair the damage, of which there most assuredly was quite a lot as everyone he passed stared at him like he'd stripped naked and started running around like an idiot.

"Haru?"

Ignoring Rin, he finally found a restroom, one of those family ones, which suited his purposes perfectly. Why perfectly? Well, because they come with mirrors…and locks. Both of which he needed at the moment.

* * *

Which was how Rin ended up staring at a closed door as the lock clicked into place.

He'd admit that…maybe…he'd gone a little too far, but he hadn't expected Haru to get mad about it. So now he was going to have to do some groveling when his boyfriend finally left the safety of the restroom. Whenever that far off time happened to arrive…

Sighing, he settled on a nearby bench for a long wait.

* * *

He'd been walking around like this? And Rin hadn't said anything. He was going to kill him.

Gazing into the mirror, Haru took in the tousled raven locks on his head before sliding down to the, supposedly, drying white shirt, which was mysteriously only wet in some, very conspicuous, places. Not to mention the fact that it was tucked half in and half out of his pants and looked very much like it had had some help getting that way. And all of that is if you completely overlooked the fact that his shirt was gaping open across the front rather haphazardly, one button still hanging on here or there, which somehow managed to make him look like he'd just been molested.

Grimacing, he undid the few remaining buttons and slid his shirt off hoping that a few minutes under the hand dryer would fix the more embarrassing wet spots.

* * *

Haru came out much sooner than he'd anticipated, but he was a little disappointed to see how neatly the teen had managed to pull himself back together. Water drenched locks were neatly in place, and the shirt he'd been so fond of less than half an hour ago was no longer deliciously rumpled, but was now dry, buttoned appropriately, and completely tucked in.

He looked like he was ready to go to school.

And wasn't that just annoying.

But…he was the one who'd made the teen mad in the first place, so he was going to have to bite the bullet and make it up to him before he could do anything else.

* * *

"What would you like to ride next, Haru?"

Rin was acting suspiciously. He hadn't been all that accommodating before, so he was sure the red haired teen was planning something, and he wanted no part of it.

On the other hand, if he didn't pick then Rin would, which was probably what the teen wanted anyway, so that meant he'd have to choose. Preferably something that Rin couldn't use to do _things_ to him on. Or something with water.

Spotting a map nearby, he wandered over and slowly looked over his options until he spotted something that looked promising.

* * *

"The ship ride? You sure?"

When the azure eyed teen just nodded shortly, he reluctantly led the teen to their next destination even though he was fairly sure it wouldn't be what Haru thought it was.

* * *

What kind of ship had no water?

This one apparently…

* * *

"I'm sorry, Haru," Rin said as they stepped off the ride.

Not only was the teen extremely disappointed that his chosen ride had not a drop of water in sight, he also looked like he might be sick after the rather disturbing adventure of being turned upside down…multiple times.

"Let's go this way. I saw a ride you might like when we were looking at the map. It should be nearby."

When Haru looked at him warily and still rather green around the gills, he smiled innocently, or at least that had been the impression he'd been going for, but he'd apparently been off the mark as that seemed to make the teen wary of his future intentions.

Scowling, Rin grabbed Haru's hand and started dragging him anyway. This was for his own good. He'd see eventually.

* * *

Reluctantly, Haru followed Rin, not that there was much else he could do unless he wanted everyone to watch him get dragged down the street by his red haired menace.

Haru's eyes swirled in blissful anticipation when Rin finally stopped.

Scratch whatever he'd been thinking about the red headed fiend earlier. He was now pretty sure he loved him.

* * *

Rin grinned at the adoring eyes that darted between him and the water ride he'd picked out for the azure eyed teen.

It felt nice, having Haru look at him like that.

Maybe someday, he'd get that look just because he walked into the room, but for now, he'd settle for getting the boy to look at him at all.

* * *

They'd spent the last few hours riding the same ride over and over again, and Rin didn't even complain.

Of course, he was pretty sure Rin enjoyed the ride too. At least he better have, considering he'd spent most of that time drawing circles across the hand he'd liberated from Haru and held captive in his lap, something he'd only been able to ignore because of the way the water twisted and flowed in the river beneath their little tube-like boat.

But…

He was wet, so life was perfect.

It had even been a little fun. Not that he was admitting that to Rin. Ever.

* * *

It was getting late. Not dark, but definitely time for dinner, and he wanted to get both of them back to Haru's house to eat. Not because he planned on finagling an invitation to stay the night or anything. No, that wasn't it. Not at all…

* * *

Nitori sat on his bed, smiling as he read the note Rin had left him again.

_Going to see family doctor. Be back Sunday night._

Which translated probably meant something along the lines of…

_I'm kidnapping my boyfriend. I'll turn up when he kicks me out or Sunday, whichever is later, so don't worry when I don't come back._

A knock sounded at the door. Sighing, he got up to answer it, hoping it wasn't Mikoshiba who seemed to think he could mysteriously produce Rin by pulling him out of his back pocket or something even though he'd showed his captain the note that said the boy wasn't coming back until later.

Not that any of his protests had stopped the teen from turning up at his door every hour or so. He claimed it was because he was worried about Rin, but realistically, Nitori was pretty sure that it had more to do with the fact that the captain wanted to meet Rin's girlfriend, whom he'd decided the red headed teen was off rendezvousing with.

And boy wouldn't the captain be surprised if he ever did meet Rin's _girlfriend_.

Resigned, Nitori opened the door and peeked out, fully expecting to find Mikoshiba grinning like an idiot from the hallway.

But the teen standing in front of him was most definitely _not_ his captain.

* * *

**Author's note:** Sorry for the late update again! And I do have to warn you, I prolly won't update again until at least Monday. My brother-in-law may be getting shipped out soon, so my family is having my nephew's Bday party early (he's turning one) and it's going to be a 20 hour car drive there and back for me, and to make matters better, my best friend is graduating from basic training (airforce) and is coming back, but he'll only be in town for a day, so I'm spending that time with him.

Anyhow, thanks for the few people who reviewed the last chapter, it really meant a lot, and this chapter is dedicated to you guys! Love y'all!

CrazyStalker: Glad you liked it! And now I can officially say I have a Crazy Stalker! Always did want one of those… :D

DiAnna44: Here you go!

Lollipop: Hehe, I like making people giggle! And you make me giggle, so giggles for everyone!

Pennamesareforfancypeople: College does kind of interfere with the important things in life sometimes, right? Like FF and writing FF and reading FF…

Hobozrule: Glad to hear from you! I'm glad you're liking the story so far. Hopefully I can keep it entertaining.

FallenAngel: *huggles* I love you! And no sainthood for the red head yet. Although, yes, he prolly deserves it.

Kaze: More of the boys for you! And doctoral degree is a PhD for me. It'll be in industrial engineering, and the ACTs are just one of those things you have to bite the bullet on. I remember it, and it was a pain, but worth it in the end.

Eyy: No smut yet… But more warm fluffy soon…I think. :P

Kuriboh: The carnival is all about fanservice XD

XXXChibisuke: I decided to leave the teacup ride to everyone's imagination. That way things can be as innocent (or dirty) as people's own minds actually are. XD Aren't I evil?


	37. Chapter 37

**Note from the author: I do not own in any way, shape or form, the anime, manga or any of the characters from Free!**

* * *

"Rin?"

"Hmm?"

"Shouldn't you be, you know…Going home now?"

* * *

If Haru wanted to get rid of him, he was going to have to try a lot harder than that.

"Are you tired of me, Haru? I'll leave if you want me to."

Yeah, right. He wasn't leaving.

* * *

Somehow, this wasn't going like it was supposed to. He figured he'd feed the red haired teen then send him home, but the sending home part wasn't going very well. Actually, it wasn't going at all.

This was the third time he'd tried to hint that Rin should go home, and he was almost to the point where shoving the other teen out the door was looking to be the best solution. But…he just couldn't do it. Every time he hinted, Rin got this really pathetic, kicked-puppy look, and it made him feel really bad, especially coming on the heel of all their other misunderstandings.

Although, this was Rin, so he was probably doing it on purpose. Scratch that. He was _sure_ he was doing it on purpose, which was annoying, but…it wouldn't hurt to let Rin stay over anyway. For one night. Only one. And he could sleep on the couch.

* * *

Rin knew he'd won when he heard Haru sigh softly. There was nothing quite like winning a battle no one had even admitted to fighting yet. There was a certain sweetness to such a victory.

"You can stay. I'll get you a blanket for the couch," Haru mumbled grumpily.

"Thanks!"

Wait…_Couch?_

* * *

"Uh, hi. Is Rin in?" Makoto asked trying to decide if he had the right room.

"No, he's not here. I don't think he'll be back until Sunday," Nitori replied trying to place where he'd seen the brown haired teen at his door.

"Oh, I see. Thanks anyway."

It dawned on him then.

"Tachibana?"

Makoto looked back, "Yes?"

"You're looking for Nanase, aren't you?"

Makoto looked sheepish, "Yeah. I was a little worried about him after yesterday. I wanted to make sure he was ok."

"I think so. Rin…" Nitori trailed off when Mikoshiba's door started to open.

* * *

"Haru, I'm out of the bath," Rin called.

The azure eyed teen turned up at the door a couple of seconds later, completely bypassing him, and disappeared into the bathroom.

Once Haru was safely secured in the bathroom, Rin flopped down on the teen's bed. The couch indeed. Not bloody likely.

Sitting back up, he roughly towel dried his hair before tossing that towel and the one that had been tied around his waist into the laundry hamper. He figured Haru would take his time in the tub, but he quickly shimmied into the sweatpants the teen had tossed him to sleep in earlier.

Not that he'd particularly mind if Haru walked in on him changing, but Haru would. Although, it might be considered justifiable payback for Haru being so damn mean to him earlier.

It was one little comment, and Haru just had to get his hopes up. Not that he'd really expected anything else because this was Haru after all. Besides that, he hadn't even meant for the boy to overhear him anyway.

But he had… And if one has to overhear that kind of comment, they should pretend they didn't. It's only polite. They should not tease. It just wasn't right. It was mean.

Very mean. And it was Haru's fault. He was the one who started it.

* * *

It was refreshing to have scored a point against Rin. It seemed like the other teen kept winning all their battles, but he'd definitely won the last one.

He hadn't been able to help himself. It had been the perfect set down, and he'd delivered it so innocently that Rin probably wasn't even sure he'd understood the reference. He had, but he wasn't telling Rin that. That would just be asking for retribution.

But really, what had he expected? He'd asked the teen a perfectly innocent question. "Is there anything else you need?"

Rin had just shaken his head, and he'd expected that to be the end. But Rin's muttered comment as he was leaving the room had left him frozen. It had been obvious then that he'd heard the pithy, "I need in your pants" comment.

He hadn't known what to do. For all of five seconds. Then he'd smirked, said ok, rummaged around in his drawers, and pulled out a pair of _his_ sweatpants for the other teen to pull on after he took a bath. Problem solved.

And Rin's scowl had made the five seconds of remembered uncertainty worth it.

* * *

"Uh, Tachibana? What are you doing here?" Mikoshiba asked, confused.

"I was looking for H…"

"Me!" Nitori interrupted.

Both teens looked at him, bewildered.

"Oh," Mikoshiba finally responded uncertainly, "I didn't know you guys really knew each other."

"Uh, yeah," Makoto tried to be as non-committal as possible. He had absolutely no idea what was going on.

"So what did you need Nitori for?"

Makoto blinked. He didn't. Not for anything, but he was relatively sure that was not what he was supposed to say. The frantic shushing motions when the red head turned away from the grey haired teen clued him in on that much.

"I…uh…It was…nothing important."

There. That was non-committal, and now he could leave before he got himself into trouble.

"Nonsense! You're already here, so we can get it worked out, whatever it is. Was it about swim club?"

"N..No?" Makoto gulped. Mikoshiba was starting to look vaguely shark-like, and there was blood in the water. His blood.

"You didn't happen to come looking for Rin did you?" Mikoshiba grinned smugly.

"We're dating!"

Nitori shrank in on himself a little after that. It was the only reason he'd been able to come up with that wouldn't out Rin. Although, in retrospect, outing himself and Tachibana probably wasn't any better.

"Dating?" His Captain asked dumbly, eyes darting between the younger teen and his…boyfriend?

"Erm, yeah?" It hadn't sounded like a question in his head, but the moment it had popped out of his mouth, he wanted to hit himself.

"Congratulations?" Mikoshiba still looked confused.

"Thanks," Nitori responded woodenly while studiously avoiding Tachibana's gaze. The other teen still hadn't spoken, and he could only hope the guy would stay silent until he could get rid of Mikoshiba and explain the situation.

"I'll just be going then. You guys…uh..have fun."

And, of course, the moment he thought he might get rid of Mikoshiba after all, everything went to pieces again…

* * *

"Rin?"

"Rin?"

"Rin, wake up."

"You're supposed to be on the couch."

"Rin."

When even poking the teen sprawled in his bed didn't work, Haru gave up. Short of bodily dragging the guy into the living room, he didn't see any easy way to get him out of his room. Oh well. It wasn't really that big of a deal.

Haru turned off all the lights before carefully crawling beneath the covers, and if his hand ended up sliding under Rin's shirt, well, it was probably because his fingers were cold. That was definitely a legitimate reason. It certainly had nothing to do with his hands itching to slide across warm skin. No, not at all.

* * *

**Author's note:**

Hi everyone! I hate that I've left you guys hanging for so long. I hope you'll all forgive me. I ended up coming back from all my family things then had to spend a week or so working things out with my best friend (who is now my boyfriend) and then it was time for midterms! I did great on both midterms by the way! I ended up with one of the top 2-3 scores in all my classes. Yay me!

Anyhow, I will try to update once a week now until it's time to start studying for finals, then I will have to disappear for a bit again.

KYLIEEE: It's not over now! Happy? And thank you for the wonderful compliments!

Crimsonshark: Lol, I am actually really happy you couldn't stop reading.

Pyrefly: Nothing bad. Just life stuff, but I'm back now!

Absababs: *cries tears of joy* Not sure what else I can say. You made me really happy. ^.^

Dark & Schizo: You guys were reading this story right on top of each other. I'd get a review from one of you then the other all day long. It made my day. Seriously! I loved it. It was so fun. Thank you both a lot.

Everyone else: Thank you all for the continued support! I hope to hear from you guys again. Sorry for the wait, and hopefully no one died from RinXHaru deprivation. And to thank you for your patience, I will give you a hint on some action in the next chapter. See below.

Rin may or may not get half naked. Haru may or may not get all naked.

Hope that's clear enough. :P


End file.
